BSP: Household savings continue to improve
The central bank said household savings continued its rise particularly in areas outside of the National Capital Region (NCR), based on a consumer-related survey.
The latest Consumer Expectations Survey (CES), conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), indicated that for the second quarter the percentage of households with savings have increased to 37.4 percent versus the previous quarter’s 36.6 percent.
“The increase in the number of savers was observed in AONCR (areas outside of the NCR) while the number of savers decreased in NCR,” said the BSP. It added that the percentage of respondents who reported that they could set aside money for savings during the current quarter also went up to 43.3 percent from 41.8 percent in the first quarter.
In previous surveys, consumers indicated that they save money for the following reasons: Emergencies, education, health and hospitalization, retirement, purchase of real estate, and business capital and investment.
The second quarter CES report, released last Friday, overall showed improved consumer confidence index (CI) of 3.8 percent from 1.7 percent in the first quarter. An increase in family savings and additional income were listed as one of the reasons for the positive outlook. The perception that there was improvement in the peace and order situation, job availability and effective government policies were also noted.
Basically, as explained by the BSP, consumer outlook is measured across three component indicators, namely, the country’s economic condition, family financial situation, and family income.
The current CES report included 5,517 households, of which 2,681 were from the NCR and 2,836 were located in areas outside the NCR.
A new data was recently included in the quarterly survey, which is the debt-to-income ratio. For the second quarter results, this was at 27 percent. According to the BSP, more than one-third of the respondents and/or spouse are under debt situation at present.
The CES has a specific segment on overseas Filipinos or households with an OFW (overseas Filipino worker) as member and income contributor or for most, the main money provider.
Of the 446 households included in the survey that received OFW remittances for the second quarter, 94.2 percent used the remittances that they received to purchase food and other household needs.
Only 33.9 percent of those surveyed said they have set aside a portion of remittances as savings. A large number allocated the money for education or about 64.1 percent said so, and another 46.9 percent allotted the money for medical expenses. About 22.9 percent said they used the money for debt payments.