SAN RAFAEL, Calif., April 20, 2023 Westamerica Bancorporation , parent company of Westamerica Bank, generated net income for the first quarter 2023 of $40.5 million and diluted earnings per. | June 19, 2023
suddenly is its number one priority can you explain that yeah. i, mean look given what s going on in the banking system, and giving wha the fed did with that credit forces facility imagined earlier about helping bank with the liquidity that they need, that has got to be their number one priority. making sure that the banking system, the financial system i on very solid ground once they are sure that, tha they can fit back and refocu on inflation clearly inflation is too high. it is import for the federal reserve to get that back under control. and that may require mor interest rate hikes. but not now and when the syste is fragile as it is. so they need to pivot here they ve got to remember what i the number one thing to focu on at this point in time, given what is going on in markets, i is making sure that the bankin system is on solid ground. i am out of time, but quick yes or no if you can, and ou savings deposits okay right no for people is it is safe place to put you money? a
than we had seen prior to that. and so one thing we ve been looking at is trying to understand perhaps why that was the case and whether or not we would expect the traditional relationship to return to normal. so, matthew, why, what did you find? so, we explored several different possible reasons. regulations have changed quite a bit, both in the us and globally. we ve seen an extended period of really low interest rates. and during that period of really low interest rates, banks accumulated a lot of savings deposits, a lot of deposits in general. and so, banks have had more funding than they really need, in order to finance the investment opportunities that they see in the marketplace. and that s made them more reticent to raise deposit rates and saving rates when they go up. because they already have more funding than they really know what to do with.
than we had seen prior to that. and so one thing we ve been looking at is trying to understand perhaps why that was the case and whether or not we would expect the traditional relationship to return to normal. so, matthew, why, what did you find? so, we explored several different possible reasons. regulations have changed quite a bit, both in the us and globally. we ve seen an extended period of really low interest rates. and during that period of really low interest rates, banks accumulated a lot of savings deposits, a lot of deposits in general. and so, banks have had more funding than they really need in order to finance the investment opportunities that they see in the marketplace. and that s made them more reticent to raise deposit rates and saving rates when they go up. because they already have more funding than they really know what to do with. and we talk about the banks being awash with cash. has a big part of that come off