Philippines bank assets hit P25.6 trillion

MANILA, Philippines — Total assets of the Philippine banking system rose by more than 10 percent to breach the P25-trillion level in the first quarter of the year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Banks booked an aggregate 10.8 percent growth in assets to reach P25.65 trillion as of end-March from P23.15 trillion in the same period in 2023, based on preliminary data from the BSP.

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

The growth in resources was fueled by the 10.6 percent expansion in the assets of universal and commercial banks to P24.08 trillion in the first quarter from P21.76 trillion a year ago.

Big banks accounted for 93.8 percent of the banking industry’s total assets as of end-March.

Similarly, the resources of thrift banks grew 8.8 percent to P1.05 trillion from P964 billion. Mid-sized banks cornered four percent of the overall banking resources.

The assets of rural and cooperative banks jumped by 15.8 percent to P425 billion in the January to March period from P367 billion a year ago.

The newer digital banking group also posted a 63.1 percent increase in assets, reaching P96.9 billion as of end-March from P59.4 billion a year ago.

As of December 2023, the country has 45 big banks, 42 thrift banks, 389 rural and cooperative banks as well as six digital banks under the BSP’s supervision.

Sy-led BDO Unibank Inc. stood as the number one bank with the largest resources at P4.28 trillion, followed by Land Bank of the Philippines with P3.27 trillion and the Ty Group’s Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. with P3.06 trillion.

Other lenders in the BSP’s top 10 in terms of asset size are Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Banking Corp., Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Philippine National Bank, Security Bank Corp., Union Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.