UnionBank of the Philippines plans to allocate 3 billion pesos for its capital expenditure budget for 2017.

The bank confirmed Feb. 3 a same-day report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer saying that the lender has tripled its capital expenditure budget this year to support its digital transformation and shift to recurring earnings stream.

The bank's president, Edwin Bautista, said that of the total capital budget, 2.9 billion pesos will be allotted for information technology spending.

The Philippine lender also expects a zero trading gain in 2017 as income for the year would all come from recurring earnings, the report added.

As of Feb. 2, US$1 was equivalent to 49.68 Philippine pesos.