Banking sector assets grow to P27.1T in Jan

TOTAL assets of the Philippine banking sector rose to P27.11 trillion as of end-January, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed, up 9.3 percent from the year-earlier P24.81 trillion.

Bank assets primarily consist of deposits, loans and investments, including cash, amounts due from other banks, interbank loans re-ceivable (IBL) and reverse repurchase (RRP) arrangements, adjusted for allowances for credit losses.

The aggregate loan portfolio, inclusive of IBL and RRP, was P14.7 trillion, 13.8 percent higher than the year-earlier P12.91 trillion.

Net investments, including financial assets and equity investments in subsidiaries, rose by 5.8 percent to P7.67 trillion from P7.25 trillion.

Cash and amounts due from banks, however, slightly declined by 1.5 percent to P2.65 trillion from P2.69 trillion.

The value of net real and other properties acquired grew by 9.3 percent to P117.14 billion from P107.12 billion while other assets totaled P1.98 trillion for the period, 7.6 percent more from P1.84 trillion a year earlier.

The banking system's total liabilities, meanwhile, rose by 9.2 percent to P23.7 trillion from P21.7 trillion.

Sought for comment, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said that the continued growth in bank assets was due to faster loan growth that was supported by a continued rise in deposits.

He added that continued growth in banks' earnings also helped in increasing capital and loanable funds.