Philippine banks end 2025 with nearly P30 trillion in assets

THE PHILIPPINE banking sector finished 2025 with about P30 trillion worth of assets as its total loan book and net investments continued to grow amid stable funding conditions, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Banks’ combined assets stood at P29.864 trillion by the end of last year, up 8.87% from the P27.431 trillion posted a year prior.

Month on month, the industry’s assets went up by 3.98% from P28.722 trillion at end-November.

This was the highest year-end level of banks’ assets, according to central bank data.

Banks’ assets are mainly supported by deposits, loans, and investments. These include cash and due from banks as well as interbank loans receivable (IBL) and reverse repurchase (RRP) net of allowances for credit losses.

At end-December, universal and commercial banks held most of the sector’s assets with P27.881 trillion, 8.37% more than the P25.726 trillion seen in 2024.

Meanwhile, the assets of thrift banks grew by 24.98% year on year to P1.378 trillion from P1.103 trillion.

Digital banks’ assets also jumped by 40.54% to P165.352 billion from P117.658 billion a year ago.

As of end-December, rural and cooperative banks had P440.545 billion in assets, 9.17% lower than the P485.027 billion posted in the previous year.

Based on BSP data, the banking industry’s total net loan portfolio inclusive of IBL and RRP reached P16.607 trillion in 2025, climbing by 11.89% from P14.843 trillion in 2024.

Net investments, or financial assets and equity investments in subsidiaries, rose by 10.51% to P8.586 trillion from P7.77 trillion in the comparable year-ago period.

Meanwhile, banks’ net real and other properties acquired amounted to P138.553 billion last year, up by 17.86% from the P117.558 billion logged in 2024.

The sector’s other assets increased by 17.96% year on year to P2.311 trillion at end-December from P1.959 trillion a year earlier.

However, cash and due from banks fell by 18.99% to P2.221 trillion at end-December from P2.742 trillion in the prior year.

Central bank data also showed that the total liabilities of the banking system stood at P26.194 trillion by end-2025, rising by 8.86% from P24.061 trillion a year ago.

The bulk of banks’ liabilities in 2025 were deposits, which grew by 7.4% annually to P21.882 trillion in the period from P20.374 trillion in the previous year.

Broken down, peso-denominated deposits totaled P18.217 trillion in 2025, while foreign currency deposits amounted to P3.665 trillion.

SM Investments Corp. Group Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said stable domestic demand, moderating inflation and steady funding conditions drove local lenders’ assets growth last year.

“Loan demand improved as borrowing costs stabilized, while banks also increased investments in higher-yielding securities,” he said in a Viber message.

“Strong deposits, remittances, and sound capital buffers gave banks room to expand their balance sheets without taking on excessive risk,” Mr. Roces added.

In 2025, the Philippine central bank eased borrowing costs for five straight meetings following a pause in February, having cut a total of 125 basis points (bps) last year alone.

Its policy decisions brought the benchmark interest rate to an over three-year low of 4.5% as of end-December.

This helped bank lending post double-digit growth for most of 2025, except in December when it expanded by a near two-year low of 9.2%.

Further easing by the US Federal Reserve and the BSP, as well as increasing deposits and net earnings could accelerate banks’ assets growth this year, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said via Viber.

Currently, the policy rate stands at 4.25% following the Monetary Board’s latest reduction on Feb. 19, bringing its cumulative cuts to 225 bps since it began easing in August 2024.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. left the door open to support domestic growth through monetary policy.

However, he said the policy path ahead is now less certain as they noted that monetary policy easing alone may not be enough to spur the economy.

The Monetary Board will hold its next rate setting meeting on April 23. — Katherine K. Chan