THE TOTAL RESOURCES of the Philippine financial system grew to P31.531 trillion as of end-April, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
Resources of banks and nonbank financial institutions rose by 9.9% from P28.7 trillion in the same period a year ago.
Meanwhile, month on month, resources slipped by 0.5% from P31.683 trillion recorded at end-March.
The financial system’s resources include funds and assets such as loans, deposits, capital, as well as bonds or debt securities.
BSP data showed resources of banks rose by 11.7% to P26.301 trillion as of April from P23.549 trillion a year prior.
Broken down, total resources held by universal and commercial banks increased by 11.7% year on year to P24.641 trillion from P22.069 trillion.
Resources of thrift banks stood at P1.101 trillion at end-April, up by 9.1% from P1.009 trillion in the same period in 2023.
Meanwhile, digital banks’ resources jumped by 48.5% to P101 billion at end-April from P68 billion a year prior. The BSP only started collecting data from digital lenders from March 2023 onwards.
For their part, rural and cooperative lenders held P458 billion in resources as of end-April, 13.4% higher than the P404 billion recorded in the previous year.
On the other hand, there were no updated data for resources held by nonbank financial institutions, which stood at P5.23 trillion as of end-2023.
Nonbanks include investment houses, finance companies, security dealers, pawnshops and lending companies.
Institutions such as nonstock savings and loan associations, credit card companies, private insurance firms, the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System are also considered nonbank financial institutions. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
