THE Philippine banking sector's assets totaled P25.48 trillion as of the end of April, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed, up nearly 12 percent from the year-earlier P22.76 trillion but slightly lower, or a little over half a percent, than the previous month's P25.65 trillion.

Bank assets primarily consist of deposits, loans and investments, including cash, amounts due from other banks, interbank loans receivable (IBL), and reverse repurchase (RRP) arrangements, adjusted for allowances for credit losses.

The aggregate loan portfolio inclusive of IBL and RRP came in at P13.47 trillion, 11.15 percent higher than the P12.12 trillion recorded in the same period last year. This is also higher than the P13.22 trillion recorded in March.

Net investments, including financial assets and equity investments in subsidiaries, rose by 11.7 percent to P7.38 trillion from P6.61 trillion. It was also up from March's P7.36 trillion.

Cash and amounts due from banks, however, slipped by 7.5 percent to P2.54 trillion from P2.75 trillion and were also lower than the previous month's P2.94 trillion.

The value of net real and other properties acquired increased by 5.3 percent to P106.41 billion from P101.01 billion. It was, however, lower than March's P106.99 billion.

Other assets totaled P1.99 trillion during the period, 68.3 percent more from P1.18 trillion a year earlier.

The banking system's total liabilities rose by 13.4 percent to P22.41 trillion from P19.94 trillion in the previous year, the BSP data showed.