Phl ‘won’t face’ recession next year, BSP says

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday that the Philippines will not enter a recession in 2023 but rather would face low economic growth.

In a CNBC Asia television interview, BSP Governor Felipe Medalla discussed the macroeconomic outlook for the Philippines for next year and said, the question is not a recession but rather the extent to which growth has declined.

[The] IMF, for instance, thinks that growth rate will be five percent next year, whereas the Philippine government thinks it’s going to be at least six, Medalla said.

If it turns out that the global scenario is much worse than we are thinking now, then maybe the Philippine government estimates will go down by 100 basis points, and the

IMF estimate may go down by 100 basis points too, So it’s slow growth, not a recession. And by low growth, I mean here anything lower than five [percent], Medalla added.

What we’re doing now is moving towards Central Bank digital currency at the wholesale level.

Digital currency not needed

Medalla said digital currency at the retail level is not needed. However, he said that making cross-border transfers and remittances cheaper may play a role.

What we’re doing now is moving towards Central Bank digital currency at the wholesale level, the BSP Governor said.

He added digital currencies could also be used to make remittance cheaper.

Since we have plenty of our [overseas Filipino] workers working abroad, [what we are trying to do] is how to make remittances cheaper and faster and safer, Medalla mentioned.