Source: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/07/28/pdic-chief-cites-key-role-of-rural-banks/
PHILIPPINE Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) President and CEO Roberto B. Tan has highlighted the important role rural banks play as pillars of economic resilience in the countryside.
Addressing the 69th Annual National Convention and General Membership Meeting of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) recently in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte, Tan said that even amid the pandemic, the depositing public continued entrusting their money to rural banks.
Tan reported that the average quarterly growth rate of rural banks’ insured deposits doubled to 1.9 percent in the first seven quarters of the pandemic (Q2 2020 to Q4 2021) from only 0.8 percent for the previous seven quarters (Q3 2018 to Q1 2020). This is consistent with the observation of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) in terms of global banking industry trends particularly, the growth of insured deposits during the early quarters of the pandemic
These figures point to strong depositor confidence in rural banks even during times of great uncertainty, Tan said.
The growth in total deposits is also another indicator of strong confidence in rural banks. While the entire banking industry’s total deposits grew at an average of 2.23 percent since the onset of the pandemic from Q2 2020 until Q4 2021, rural banks’ total deposits posted a significantly higher quarterly growth rate of 3.19 percent in the same period, he noted.
Meanwhile, as the country starts to recover from the serious impact of Covid-19, depositor confidence in rural banks is expected to remain strong. The depositing public can also be assured that with deposit insurance the PDIC provides and the collaboration it forges with the rural banking sector in terms of governance and record-keeping, their hard-earned deposits in these important pillars of economic resilience are more than adequately protected with deposit insurance.