PHL gross savings markedly reduced in past 2 yrs–psa

FILIPINOS’ savings have been significantly reduced in the past two years of the pandemic, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Based on the “Consolidated Accounts,” the PSA said the country’s total Gross Savings reached P3.88 trillion, a contraction of 12.4 percent from the previous year’s P4.43 trillion.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, Businessmirror calculated that total gross savings contracted 36.91 percent from the P6.15 trillion in 2019.

“The ‘Consolidated Accounts’ presents a summary of transactions and relationships among the various f lows of the economy. Included in this report are production, consumption, income, gross accumulation and economic transactions with the rest of the world,” the PSA said.

The contraction in gross savings was largely due to the dissaving of households, including “Non-profit Institutions Serving Households” (NPISHS) and general government. Dissaving is the action of spending more than one has earned in a given period.

The PSA data showed the dissaving of households and NPISHS was P622.229 billion, a 222.18-percent increase in 2021 from the negative savings of P193.131 billion in 2020.

Compared to the pre-pandemic or 2019 savings of households and NPISHS, the negative savings in 2020 represented a decline in savings of 283.64 percent while the dissaving of 2021 was a plunge of 691.64 percent compared to the period before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, general government dissaving reached P490.624 billion in 2021 and P364.127 billion in 2020. In 2019, general government savings amounted to P538.171 billion.

Compared to 2020, the negative savings grew 34.74 percent in 2021. But when compared to 2019, the dissaving in 2021 contracted 191.17 percent while the figure for 2020 was a 167.66 percent decline.

PSA data showed that only financial corporation savings grew in the past two years. Financial corporation savings reached P1.457 trillion in 2021, a 3.45 percent increase from the P1.408 trillion posted in 2020.

The data also showed that the 2021 savings of the sector also grew 39.38 percent when compared to the pre-pandemic period of 2019.

In 2021, the PSA said the country’s “Gross National Disposable Income” was valued at P21.51 trillion, registering a growth of 4.2 percent from the previous year.

Among the factors of production, “Gross Operating Surplus” remained to have the highest share of 55.7 percent in 2021. This was followed by “Compensation of Employees” at 36.7 percent and “Taxes Less Subsidies on Production and Imports” at 7.6 percent.