Despite the disruption created by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the deployment of tougher quarantine measures in late March, the Philippine banking system showed resilience and stability in the first quarter of this year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The central bank attributed its assessment to the country’s economic activities and financial transactions, which it claimed “continued to recover” in its “First Quarter 2021 Report on Economic and Financial Developments.”

According to the report, the banking system’s overall resources as of end-March 2021 were P20 trillion, practically unchanged from end-December 2020 but 6.6 percent more than a year ago.

“As a percent of GDP (gross domestic product), total resources stood at 112.3 percent,” the BSP said.

Bank total deposits reached P11.8 trillion at the end of March 2021, up 7.9 percent from the previous quarter, but essentially unchanged from the preceding quarter, the BSP also pointed out.

During the same period, demand and savings deposits both increased by 2.8 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, while time deposits decreased by 8.9 percent. Residents’ foreign-currency deposits, on the other hand, decreased 0.5 percent year-on-year to P2.0 trillion.

Their financial sector domination was also highlighted, with universal and commercial banks accounting for 92.6 percent of total bank resources.

“In terms of the number of head offices and branches/agencies, non-bank financial intermediaries have the widest physical network, consisting mainly of pawnshops,” it added.

The number of banking institutions (head offices) has decreased to 528 as of end-March 2021, down from 542 a year ago and 535 a quarter earlier, the Bangko Sentral noted.

The banks’ head offices are comprised of 46 universal and commercial banks, 48 thrift banks, and 434 rural banks.

The central bank said, “This indicated continued consolidation of banks.”