The total assets of the banking system stood at P22.695 trillion as of end-April, up by 9.66 percent compared to same period last year of P20.696 trillion, funded mainly by deposits and core activities such as loans and investments. For the first four months, net loans inclusive of interbank loans receivable (IBL) and reverse repurchase (RRP) reached P12.096 trillion which was 10.1 percent higher than P10.987 trillion in 2022, based on data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Net loans contributed much to the industry’s total assets followed by investments and cash and due from banks. Net investments which are financial assets and equity investments as of end-April increased 10.6 percent to P6.590 trillion from P5.958 trillion same time last year while cash and due from banks decreased by 3.25 percent to P2.733 trillion versus P2.825 trillion previously. Also part of bank assets are the net real and other properties acquired or ROPA which went up by 4.66 percent to P101.450 billion compared to P96.933 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, the banking system’s liabilities increased by 9.53 percent to P19.889 trillion from P18.159 trillion same time last year. By banking group, the big banks or universal and commercial banks accounted for about 94 percent of total industry assets at P21.376 trillion of the total as of end-April. Thrift banks’ assets totaled P947.211 billion during the period. The rural and cooperative banks are delayed in reporting but as of end-December 2022, the total assets amounted to P372.543 billion as of the latest data. Last year, the total assets of the banking system accounted for about 83 percent of the total resources of the domestic financial system. Total resources of the financial system exclude the assets of the BSP but include the assets of banks and non-bank financial institutions. Based on BSP data, in terms of assets, the SM Group’s BDO Unibank Inc. is the country’s biggest bank with total assets of P3.924 trillion as of end-2022. Government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines is second largest lender with total assets of P3.137 trillion followed by the Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands with P2.601 trillion. In the fourth spot is the Ty-controlled Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. with P2.581 trillion while China Banking Corp., a sister company of BDO, has P1.309 trillion total assets. The other banks in the top 10 in terms of asset size are Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Philippine National Bank, state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines, Union Bank of the Philippines and Security Bank Corp. As of end-April, the BSP is supervising 45 big banks, 43 thrift banks, 398 rural and cooperative banks, and six digital banks.