GROWING NUMBER OF BANK ACCOUNTS. A bank along a major street in Tacloban City. Bank deposits in Eastern Visayas grew by 9.27 percent to PHP119.46 billion in 2018 while number of accounts reached the one million mark, indicating a 'robust financial system' in the region. (PNA file photo)
TACLOBAN CITY -- Bank deposits in Eastern Visayas grew by 9.27 percent to PHP119.46 billion in 2018 while the number of accounts reached the one million mark, indicating a “robust financial system” in the region.
Deposit liabilities managed to maintain an annual growth in the past six years despite the reeling impact of 2013 super typhoon Yolanda, based on records of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC).
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Eastern Visayas Regional Director Meylene Rosales on Tuesday said the rise in bank deposits is a reflection of 5.9 percent growth in the 2018 Gross Regional Development Product.
“The financial system in the region remained robust as evidenced by the growth in both deposit liabilities and loan portfolio,” Rosales said in a phone interview.
"In general, this can be due to increased economic activities in the region,wider reach of bank coverage, higher remittances, etc.," she added.
Rosales said the services sector, which accounts for 44.4 percent of the regional economy, accelerated to 10.5 percent during the period. About 53 percent of the region’s labor force is employed by service providers.
The NEDA official said the proliferation of hotels, restaurants, and other establishments in the region’s major cities contributed to the service sector’s improvement.
Regional Development Council banking sector representative Francisco Barredo said consistent banking growth is largely driven by the government’s "Build, Build, Build" program and business expansion.
“In the past, most construction activities were concentrated in Tacloban and other areas badly-hit by Yolanda. Construction projects and business expansion have spread out all over the region as the government pours in more investments on improving infrastructure,” Barredo told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Deposit liabilities in 2018 stood at PHP119.46 billion, higher than the PHP109.33 billion a year earlier, according to PDIC. Deposit liabilities refer to money placed by an individual or corporation into a banking institution for safekeeping.
However, last year’s growth is lower than the 15.56 percent growth recorded in 2017 and 11.23 percent rise in 2016.
Data showed that of the total PHP119.46 billion deposit portfolio, PHP70.73 billion were in Leyte province, PHP13.40 billion in Samar, PHP13.11 billion in Southern Leyte, PHP10.54 billion in Northern Samar, PHP8.62 billion in Eastern Samar, and PHP3.02 billion in Biliran.
The remarkable growth in Leyte is largely driven by the operation of 50 banks in Tacloban City. The regional capital had PHP43.40 billion deposits as of end of 2018, higher than the PHP41.67 billion in 2017. The number of accounts in the city rose to 343,603 in 2018 from 310,781 the previous year.
For the first time, the number of accounts has reached over one million in 2018 at 1,067,902 or 13.45 percent higher than the 941,338 bank accounts recorded in 2017.
The number of banks increased to 260 in 2018 from 225 in the previous year. All provinces also posted significant growth in both accounts and deposits.
“The increase in deposits and number of accounts is a result of our financial literacy campaign for people to save their money in banks. Banks have been introducing the basic deposit accounts (BDA) to encourage even the poor to open a bank account,” said Maria Jocelyn Ladero, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tacloban acting deputy director.
The minimum key features of the basic deposit account include simplified know-your-customer requirements; an opening amount of less than PHP100; no minimum maintaining balance; and no dormancy charges. (PNA)
