FILIPINO households in the middle- to high-income group are now able to set aside money for future needs despite the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic, but households in the lower-income group, especially those in the rural areas of the country, are still struggling to save.
This was gleaned from the results of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey, which was conducted in October. It showed that Filipino households with savings grew slightly larger from the level seen in the July survey.
The percentage of households with savings slightly rose to 25 percent from 24.7 percent. This, however, does not mean all Filipino households are starting to see improvement after the peak of the pandemic-induced lockdowns.
The BSP traced this slight increase in the number of savers mainly to the higher number of households with savings in the high- and middle-income groups. This more than offset the decline in the number of savers in the low-income group.
The highest income group had the highest leap in savings during the period, with 46.4 percent of respondents saying they have savings in October. This is a 5-point rise from the 41.1 percent in the previous survey round.
The middle-income group was stable: about 27.4 percent of middle- income respondents were able to save during the period, slightly up from the 27.3 percent in the previous survey round.
The low-income group bucked the trend. The percentage of households that had savings declined from 15.3 percent to 15 percent.
By geographical area, the number of savers in the country’s capital rose while the percentage of respondents with savings in areas outside the National Capital Region (NCR) declined.
From the average of 22.7 percent in the July survey, 26.7 percent of Metro Manila respondents reported having savings in the October survey.
In contrast, 25 percent of households outside Metro Manila reported having savings in July. This declined to 24.7 percent in the October survey.
According to respondents, they saved money for the following reasons: emergencies, health and hospitalization, education, retirement, and business capital and investment.
Among savers, 74 percent kept their money in a bank—a record high since 2013. Meanwhile, 57.5 percent kept their savings at home and 47.9 percent considered other institutions such as cooperatives, paluwagan, other credit/loan associations, or in investments like insurance, microfinance, and stocks.