PH ECONOMY ‘ON SOUND FOOTING’

THE country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong despite growing uncertainty in the global environment, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said.

In his speech at a meet-and- greet session with the Philippine embassy and the US-Philippines Society in Washington, D.C. on October 16, Diokno said protectionist policies and geopolitical tensions continued to dominate the global growth narrative.

This, he added, resulted in the threat of slowing global economic growth becoming larger.

“Nonetheless, the Philippines remains on very sound footing because economic growth is solid and sustainable; inflation is low and manageable; the external payments position is strong; and the banking system is strong and stable,” the central bank chief explained.

He also said the country recorded its 82nd consecutive quarter, or roughly more than 20 years, of uninterrupted economic expansion in the second quarter of 2019.

“This shows that we have managed to sail through the toughest external challenges from the Asian financial crisis to the global financial crisis,” he added.

Although slower than expected, Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.5 percent in the second quarter.

Diokno also said the country’s inflation rate was now within target after posting successive multiyear highs that culminated in a 6.7-percent nine-year peak in September and October.

“This is credited to a series of monetary actions by the BSP that addressed brewing second-round effects combined with and non-monetary actions by the government that addressed bottlenecks to food supply,” he added.

In September, consumer price growth fell to 0.9 percent to bring the year- to- date average to 2.8 percent, which falls within the Bangko Sentral’s 2- 4 percent target range.

Furthermore, the BSP governor said the country’s external position “is reflective of an economy driven by solid macroeconomic fundamentals and firm growth prospects.”