Find out if Filipinos have improved in terms of spending.

According to a study by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the number of Filipinos who are opting to save their money instead of spend it grew in the first quarter of 2014.

BSP is proud to say that financial literacy has jumped in the country after they conducted a Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) of 5,870 representative households around the country. The CES took place from 21 January to 3 February this year.

The researchers found out that the number of households with savings increased to 28.9% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2014 compared to 26.2% in the same period last year. From Q4 of 2013 to Q1 of 2014, the number of households that said they expected to save money increased from 34.6% to 38.3%.

The number of households that receive remittances from OFWs also showed improvement with 45.4% saying they saved remittance money in Q1, up from 41.4% in Q4 of 2013. The number of families that spent their remittance money on short-term investment like consumer durables and vehicles also went down while those who spent it on long-term investment like properties went up by 1% in the same period.

BSP Assistant Governor for the Monetary Policy Sub-sector Cyd Tuano-Amador said that this trend among OFW households shows ‘empowered engagement’ in financial institutions and a ‘deepening’ sense of handling finances.

According to BSP, people are saving money today for: emergency, hospitalisation, retirement, education and capital or investment. The central bank added that 65.3% of households put their savings in banks, 22.8% keep theirs at home and 11.6% in co-operatives, pahulugan and loan associations.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Gunigundo explained that higher salaries and greater financial literacy have helped Filipinos be more empowered to save money today.