The New Central Bank Act (RA 7653)

CHAPTER IV
INSTRUMENTS OF BANGKO SENTRAL ACTION
ARTICLE VII - BANK RESERVES
SECTION 94. Reserve Requirements. In order to control the volume of money created by the credit operations of the banking system, all banks
operating in the Philippines shall be required to maintain reserves against their deposit liabilities: Provided, That the Monetary Board may, at its
discretion, also require all banks and/or quasi-banks to maintain reserves against funds held in trust and liabilities for deposit substitutes as defined in
this Act. The required reserves of each bank shall be proportional to the volume of its deposit liabilities and shall ordinarily take the form of a deposit
in the Bangko Sentral. Reserve requirements shall be applied to all banks of the same category uniformly and without discrimination.
Reserves against deposit substitutes, if imposed, shall be determined in the same manner as provided for reserve requirements against regular bank
deposits, with respect to the imposition, increase, and computation of reserves.
The Monetary Board may exempt from reserve requirements deposits and deposit substitutes with remaining maturities of two (2) years or more, as
well as interbank borrowings.
Since the requirement to maintain bank reserves is imposed primarily to control the volume of money, the Bangko Sentral shall not pay interest on
the reserves maintained with it unless the Monetary Board decides otherwise as warranted by circumstances.
SECTION 95. Definition of Deposit Substitutes. The term "deposit substitutes" is defined as an alternative form of obtaining funds from the
public, other than deposits, through the issuance, endorsement, or acceptance of debt instruments for the borrower's own account, for the purpose of
relending or purchasing of receivables and other obligations. These instruments may include, but need not be limited to, bankers acceptances,
promissory notes, participations, certificates of assignment and similar instruments with recourse, and repurchase agreements. The Monetary Board
shall determine what specific instruments shall be considered as deposit substitutes for the purposes of Section 94 of this Act: Provided, however,
That deposit substitutes of commercial, industrial and other non-financial companies for the limited purpose of financing their own needs or the
needs of their agents or dealers shall not be covered by the provisions of Section 94 of this Act.
SECTION 96. Required Reserves Against Peso Deposits. The Monetary Board may fix and, when it deems necessary, alter the minimum reserve
ratios to peso deposits, as well as to deposit substitutes, which each bank and/or quasi-bank may maintain, and such ratio shall be applied uniformly
to all banks of the same category as well as to quasi-banks.
SECTION 97. Required Reserves Against Foreign Currency Deposits. The Monetary Board is similarly authorized to prescribe and modify the
minimum reserve ratios applicable to deposits denominated in foreign currencies.
SECTION 98. Reserves Against Unused Balances of Overdraft Lines. In order to facilitate Bangko Sentral control over the volume of bank credit,
the Monetary Board may establish minimum reserve requirements for unused balances of overdraft lines.
The powers of the Monetary Board to prescribe and modify reserve requirements against unused balances of overdraft lines shall be the same as its
powers with respect to reserve requirements against demand deposits.
SECTION 99. Increase in Reserve Requirements. Whenever in the opinion of the Monetary Board it becomes necessary to increase reserve
requirements against existing liabilities, the increase shall be made in a gradual manner and shall not exceed four percentage points in any thirty-day
period. Banks and other affected financial institutions shall be notified reasonably in advance of the date on which such increase is to become
effective.
SECTION 100. Computation on Reserves. The reserve position of each bank or quasi-bank shall be calculated daily on the basis of the amount, at
the close of business for the day, of the institution's reserves and the amount of its liability accounts against which reserves are required to be
maintained: Provided, That with reference to holidays or non-banking days, the reserve position as calculated at the close of the business day
immediately preceding such holidays and non-banking days shall apply on such days.
For the purpose of computing the reserve position of each bank or quasi-bank, its principal office in the Philippines and all its branches and agencies
located therein shall be considered as a single unit.
SECTION 101. Reserve Deficiencies. Whenever the reserve position of any bank or quasi-bank, computed in the manner specified in the
preceding section of this Act, is below the required minimum, the bank or quasi-bank shall pay the Bangko Sentral one-tenth of one percent (1/10 of
1%) per day on the amount of the deficiency or the prevailing ninety-one-day treasury bill rate plus three percentage points, whichever is higher:
Provided, however, That banks and quasi-banks shall ordinarily be permitted to offset any reserve deficiency occurring on one or more days of the
week with any excess reserves which they may hold on other days of the same week and shall be required to pay the penalty only on the average
daily deficiency during the week. In cases of abuse, the Monetary Board may deny any bank or quasi-bank the privilege of offsetting reserve
deficiencies in the aforesaid manner.
If a bank or quasi-bank chronically has a reserve deficiency, the Monetary Board may limit or prohibit the making of new loans or investments by the
institution and may require that part or all of the net profits of the institution be assigned to surplus.
The Monetary Board may modify or set aside the reserve deficiency penalties provided in this section, for part or the entire period of a strike or
lockout affecting a bank or a quasi-bank as defined in the Labor Code, or of a national emergency affecting operations of banks or quasi-banks. The
Monetary Board may also modify or set aside reserved deficiency penalties for rehabilitation program of a bank.
SECTION 102. Interbank Settlement. The Bangko Sentral shall establish facilities for interbank clearing under such rules and regulations as the
Monetary Board may prescribe: Provided, That the Bangko Sentral may charge administrative and other fees for the maintenance of such facilities.
The deposit reserves maintained by the banks in the Bangko Sentral in accordance with the provisions of Section 94 of this Act shall serve as basis
for the clearing of checks and the settlement of interbank balances, subject to such rules and regulations as the Monetary Board may issue with
respect to such operations: Provided, That any bank which incurs on overdrawing in its deposit account with the Bangko Sentral shall fully cover said
overdraft, including interest thereon at a rate equivalent to one-tenth of one percent (1/10 of 1%) per day or the prevailing ninety-one-day treasury
bill rate plus three percentage points, whichever is higher, not later than the next clearing day: Provided, further, That settlement of clearing balances
shall not be effected for any account which continues to be overdrawn for five (5) consecutive banking days until such time as the overdrawing is
fully covered or otherwise converted into an emergency loan or advance pursuant to the provisions of Section 84 of this Act: Provided, finally, That
the appropriate clearing office shall be officially notified of banks with overdrawn balances. Banks with existing overdrafts with the Bangko Sentral
as of the effectivity of this Act shall, within such period as may be prescribed by the Monetary Board, either convert the overdraft into an emergency
loan or advance with a plan of payment, or settle such overdrafts, and that, upon failure to so comply herewith, the Bangko Sentral shall take such
action against the bank as may be warranted under this Act.
SECTION 103. Exemption from Attachment and Other Purposes. Deposits maintained by banks with the Bangko Sentral as part of their reserve
requirements shall be exempt from attachment, garnishments, or any other order or process of any court, government agency or any other
administrative body issued to satisfy the claim of a party other than the Government, or its political subdivisions or instrumentalities.
Reserve Ratios
Many central banks, especially in developing and emerging markets, use a required reserve ratio (RRR) or cash reserve ratio (CRR) as a tool of
monetary policy. By changing the ratio, central banks can influence the growth of credit.
The ratio is calculated as a proportion of customer deposits and determines how much commercial banks must set aside rather than lend out.
Deposits at commercial banks can take many forms, either as time deposits or sight deposit, and can be in local currency or foreign currency. Central
banks often have different ratios for different types of deposits.
The table below only includes the ratio for domestic currency deposits to make it easier to compare the ratio at different central banks.
The table includes the name of the country, the name of the central bank, the date of the last change to the reserve ratio and the current required
reserve ratio for domestic currency deposits.

Required Reserve Ratios Table:

(Updated May 27, 2017 with Central Bank of West African States)

PHILIPPINES Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 30-May-14 20.00%

From 20% to 15% by 2017 BSP seen easing banks reserve reqts
By Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star) | Updated December 11, 2016 - 12:00am
Chidu Narayanan, economist for Asia at SCB, said monetary authorities are likely to lower the reserve requirements for banks to 15 percent in 2017
from the current level of 20 percent. We expect BSP to cut the reserve requirement ratio to 15 percent in 2017, from 20 percent, in order to provide
more liquidity, he added.
MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) looks set to slash the reserve requirement ratio for banks to release more liquidity
into the countrys financial system next year, Standard Chartered Bank said.
Chidu Narayanan, economist for Asia at SCB, said monetary authorities are likely to lower the reserve requirements for banks to 15 percent in 2017
from the current level of 20 percent.
We expect BSP to cut the reserve requirement ratio to 15 percent in 2017, from 20 percent, in order to provide more liquidity, he added.
Reserve ratios are the percentage of bank deposits and deposit substitute liabilities that banks maintain or deposit with the central bank. The
Philippines has the highest ratio in the region.
Naryanan said the BSP is seen keeping interest rates steady next year and at the same time maintain banking system liquidity through the ceiling with
the overnight lending facility at 3.5 percent and floor with the overnight deposit facility at 2.5 percent of the interest rate corridor (IRC).
The BSP introduced the IRC last June 3 to keep market rates closer to policy rates.

Philippines Central bank discount rate

Central bank discount rate: 6.13% (31 December 2015)
6.13% (31 December 2014)
Definition: This entry provides the annualized interest rate a country's central bank charges commercial, depository banks for loans to meet
temporary shortages of funds.
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on October 8, 2016

PDIC is a government instrumentality created in

1963 by virtue of Republic Act 3591, as amended,
to insure the deposits of all banks. PDIC exists to
protect depositors by providing deposit insurance coverage for the depositing public and help promote financial stability.

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (Filipino: Korporasyon ng Segurong Deposito ng Pilipinas, abbreviated as PDIC) is a government-
run Philippine deposit insurancefund. It was established on June 22, 1963 by Republic Act 3591. It guarantees deposits up to P500,000.[1] Primary
Functions of PDIC (Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation) is to protect the small investors and depositors; and to build a strong banking
confidence.