The total resources of the Philippine financial sector grew 7.79 percent to P33.780 billion in 2024 from P31.338 in 2023, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a report released over the weekend.
Of the total resources, banks accounted for P28.255 trillion in 2024, 8.85 percent higher than the P24.315 trillion posted during the previous year.
In an earlier report, the BSP said that lending by Philippine banks posted double-digit growth in December, rising 12.2 percent to hit P13.138 trillion from P11.705 trillion a year earlier.
Non-bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), meanwhile, saw their assets inching up to P5.525 trillion in 2024, or 2.7 percent over 2023’s P5.381 trillion.
Digital banks posted the biggest year-on-year growth of 33.5 percent to P121.8 billion from P91.2 billion in 2023.
Rural and cooperative banks posted an 8.0 percent gain to hit P527.1 billion in 2024 from P446.5 billion in 2023.
Universal and commercial banks, meanwhile, notched 8.73 percent-growth to P26.438 trillion from P24.316 trillion, while thrift banks ended up with 5.9 percent to P1.169 trillion from P1.104 trillion.
Michael Ricafort, RCBC’s chief economist, attributed the growth in financial resources to the expansion of bank loans.
The continued growth in banks’ net income also contributed to the rise in banks’ capital and overall total resources, he added.
“Local policy rate cuts of 0.75 in 2024 that helped reduce loans rates and increased demand for loans as well as the cut in large banks’ RRR to 7 percent in 2024 that infused about P400 billion into the banking system,” he said.
Both increased the ability of banks to expand loans, investments, and other assets,” Ricafort said.
