BSP: Cordillera banking sector strong amid Covid

By Carlito C. Dar

BAGUIO CITY -- Banking is bullish and resilient in Cordillera Administrative Region despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
     Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas La Union Bank Officer II Therese Ethel Jularbal bared this during the Philippine Statistics Authority-led media forum for the 2020 Regional Economic Performance Report, here.
    Jularbal said the Cordillera’s banking sector is resilient on account   of increased deposits, continued bank lending activities and higher number of banking offices and automated teller machines (ATMs).
    BSP data showed the end of September 2020, deposits generated in the region was estimated at P138.04 billion, which is higher than the P134.44 billion  recorded for the whole year of 2019.
    On bank presence, banking offices increased to 200 in 2020 from 197 in the previous years, while the number of ATMs also rose to 306 as of September 30, 2020, from 297 in 2019.
    Jularbal said digital transformation of financial services, which the pandemic has unexpectedly catalyzed its rapid acceleration, also played a major role in the solid performance of the sector.
    The digitalization process in the financial industry even before the pandemic was of a great help. The PESONet and InstaPay platforms have proven its value and reliability, especially at the height of strict movement restrictions, as it allowed a safe and convenient environment for interbank fund transfers and payments. she added.
    In 2020, the volume of PESONet transfers surged to 15.3 million, up by 376 percent year-on-year.
    The value of PESONet transactions registered an annual growth of 18%   to reach nearly P951.6B.
    For InstaPay, the number of payments made reached 86.7 million, up by 459% year-on-year.
    Said transactions were valued at P463.4 billion, a 340% increase over its year-ago total. Though subnational data is not available, he believes that this accomplishment also reflects the situation in the region.
    The PSA-CAR, in the said forum reported Cordillera posted a Regional Gross Domestic Product of P289.9 billion in 2020, a 9.9 % contraction compared to the P321.7 billion GRDP in 2019. 
    Based on the 2020 GRDP, the sub –sector of financial and insurance activities (where banking belongs) recorded the highest growth rate at 8.2 percent, among the only four sub - sectors that recorded positive growth. 00 PIA Cordillera