SANTO DOMINGO. -The total savings of Dominicans in financial intermediation entities supervised by the Superintendency of Banks (SB) amounted to RD$2.3 trillion at the close of December 2022, equivalent to 38% of the nominal gross domestic product (GDP).
Thus, deposits experienced an increase of RD$161.7 million, for a year-on-year increase of 7.6%.
The data is contained in the latest report "Savings Trends in the Dominican Republic: Perspectives from the financial system's deposits", which covers up to December 2022 .
According to the SB publication, public deposits are the main source of economic resources for carrying out financial intermediation activities, representing 86.8% of the total liabilities of the system.
The report also highlights that households are the main depositors, accounting for 52.4% of total deposits as of December of last year.
Savings instruments
When the system's deposits are broken down by type of instrument, it is observed that 41.7% of the total balance is placed in savings accounts, followed by time deposits and current accounts, whose share in the total deposits represented 37.1% and 21.2%, respectively.
The SB report reveals that multiple banks concentrated 89.6% of total deposits (RD$2.06 trillion). The remainder was distributed as follows: 8.6% to savings and loan associations, 1.4% to savings and credit banks, while credit corporations and public financial intermediation entities held 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.
As of December 31st of last year, deposits in foreign currency represented 28.8% of the total. The US dollar continued to show clear dominance among foreign currencies, accounting for 97.8% of deposits, leaving the euro in a distant second place with 2.2%. It is worth noting the 29% growth in savings held in the European currency.
Regarding the geographical distribution of water intakes, the eastern part of the country and the Metropolitan Region showed the largest year-on-year increases, with expansions of 10.7% and 7.9%, respectively. The northern and southern regions of the country each registered growth rates of approximately 6%.
From a gender perspective, the SB report shows that balances in each type of instrument tend to be higher in accounts held by men, reflecting the persistent gender gap. For both men and women, savings accounts have the largest balances. In December 2022, balances in savings accounts and time deposits averaged RD$132,676 for men and RD$99,988 for women, representing an average gap of RD$32,688.
