Six million Filipinos today experience extreme poverty, a challenge that - according to Senate president pro-tempore Ralph Recto - is the "most difficult" and "most demanding" for President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration.
But, one bank sees beyond this misery and, in fact, said the Philippines' and its economy is improving. To be specific: More Filipinos are depositing their money with the bank.
A strong economy is based on many factors: Foreign investments and multi-national companies, local job generating enterprises, solid export and import, foreign remittance (OFWs), local manufacturing and industrial output and, of course, a stable and sound banking sector.
The Philippines' hosting many big-name international financial institutions helps boost its own economic capability. For instance, banks like Citibank play a key role in providing the country much-needed financial muscle to sustain its local and overseas endeavors while also helping create jobs and offer opportunities for personal savings.
Citibank said the Philippines is the second fastest-growing location of the international banking institution in terms of number of depositors.
Based on data obtained by the Business Mirror, the Citibank Philippines enjoyed a robust double-digit year-to-date increase in deposit volume -- the second fastest growth country performance in its Southeast Asian operations.
Citibank Thailand leads the ranking in terms of deposit volume, which soared 15.3% in the first two quarters of 2019. The bank's deposit volume increase for Philippines reached 11.97%, followed by Citibank Hong Kong, which recorded a 10.9 % growth rally. Citibank's branches in Singapore and Malaysia grew 6.1 and 2.25 %, respectively. Its locations in Indonesia and Vietnam, on the other hand, recorded losses in their deposit volumes in the same quarter, with 5.65 and 1.72 %.
Continued growth
Citibank Philippines Consumer Banking Head & Country Business Manager Manoj Varma said that one of the biggest factors that sets the bank apart from its competitors in southeast Asia is the size of its young and working demographic.
"The number of people from an age-income demographic is a very strong indicator of continued performance growth even for the next coming 16 to 20 years," Varna said in an interview with Business Mirror. The bank executive also stated that they see Citibank Philippines's deposit performance to continue and expressed enthusiasm of more expansions in the coming months.
Meanwhile, analysts at Citibank point out they have cut down their global equity allotment to underweight and, considering equities, they prefer emerging markets, particularly Asia.
