By Lee C. Chipongian
The domestic economy had savings of P3.862 trillion in 2017, up 11.1 percent from 2016, as all sectors were declared “savers” on profitable operations and expansion activities despite external risks, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The BSP reported that the country’s real investments rose by 12.4 percent year-on-year to P3.972 trillion in the same period, and except for the financial corporations sector, all other sectors had increased real investments in 2017.
The BSP said all sectors were “savers” in 2017 led by the non-financial corporations sector with P2.241-trillion savings, and this was from the profitable operations and expansion activities.
The general government sector, in the meantime, had savings of P649.8 billion from the National Government (NG) tax revenue collections.
The household and financial corporations sectors contributed P636.1 billion and P335.5 billion, respectively.
As for real investments, the non-financial corporations sector was the largest investor at P2.272 trillion with increased demand for institutional and agricultural structures as well as the continued construction of power supply facilities and equipment, and irrigation projects, the BSP said.
“The general government sector’s capital accumulation reached P897.4 billion as the NG sustained its infrastructure spending (while) the household sector accumulated P784.4 billion in real investments,” said the BSP.
However, the financial corporations sector’s capital formation “contracted to P18.4 billion, following the disposal of real and other properties acquired by government financial institutions and mergers and consolidation in the banking system,” the BSP explained.
In the statement, the BSP said the domestic economy’s net borrowing from the rest of the world more than doubled to P106.8 billion in 2017. “The domestic economy’s robust real investment activity widened the country’s saving-investment deficit, resulting in higher borrowings from rest of the world,” said the BSP.
Loans, currency and deposits were the most widely used financial instruments in the economy at P1.747 trillion and P1.232 trillion, respectively, according to the report.