Financial system resources grow 9.2% as of Aug.

THE TOTAL RESOURCES of the Philippine financial system grew by 9.2% as of August, driven by the increase in resources held by banks, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Based on central bank data, the resources of banks and nonbank financial institutions stood at P32.14 trillion as of August, up from P29.43 trillion as of the same month last year.

These resources include funds and assets such as deposits, capital, as well as bonds or debt securities.

Broken down, banks’ resources jumped by 10.6% to P26.81 trillion at end-August from P24.24 trillion in the comparable year-ago period.

Total resources held by universal and commercial banks stood at P25.09 trillion, 10.6% higher than the P22.69 trillion recorded in the previous year, BSP data showed.

Thrift banks’ resources increased by 7.6% to P1.13 trillion as of August from P1.05 trillion in the same period in 2023.

Resources held by digital banks climbed by 29.8% year on year to P110.3 billion from P85 billion. Only consolidated data from March 2023 are available for digital banks.

Lastly, rural and cooperative banks’ resources reached P478.9 billion as of August, up by 15.3% from P415.5 billion a year prior.

On the other hand, nonbanks’ resources went up by 2.5% to P5.33 trillion as of end-March from P5.2 trillion as of August 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