MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) urged thrift banks to focus on growth this year amid the volatility presented by the upcoming May presidential elections.

At the 2010 Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) Convention earlier Friday, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco encouraged thrift banks to shelve the usual wait-and-see stance and instead take advantage of opportunities to strengthen the industry.

"Elections entice institutions to forestall business plans. For banks, this renders some as passive observers. But this would be detrimental to the overall economy. I urge you to stay focused on target markets," he said.

"You were strong enough to weather the global financial crisis, and so a political transition should be less of an issue. They should not dilly dally on the thingd they want to do," he added.

Tetangco noted that thrift banks have a lot of alternative instruments available for growth this year, including issuing foreign-denominated securities, and engaging in derivatives trading, which was previously only available to commercial and universal banks.

But he warned that with the available options, thrift banks should monitor and be aware of risks involved, such as credit risks and forex swings.

He added that thrift banks should also watch their non-performing loan (NPL) ratios very closely as these remain at an average of 7.3%, above the banking industry's 3.7%.

"They have brought NPLs down significantly, but there is room for improvement," Tetangco stressed.

CTB President Pascual Garcia said he was optimistic that the industry would meet its 12% loan growth target for the year, as they do not expect failure of elections, and see stronger consumer demand in the coming months.