And as a result of the continuing cooperation between the BSP and the banking sector to continue to enhance governance and risk management practices of banks, industry profitability improved further with return on equity rising from 9.67% in September 2014 to 10.04% in September 2015; asset quality got even better with gross NPL ratio improving to 2.32% in September 2015 from 2.56% in September 2014; while deposits reached record-high levels, increasing by over 9% year-on-year to nearly P 8.8 trillion as of September 2015.
Meanwhile, the country’s strong external position continued to inspire confidence among investors and creditors, with the current account remaining in surplus, given the steady inflow of remittances from overseas Filipinos and receipts from BPOs, and a healthy level of gross international reserves that can support a robust economy.