Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe M. Medalla recently underscored the central bank’s commitment to bring the country’s inflation back to a target-consistent path during the Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.
BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla (center) together with (from left:) DBM Undersecretary Margaux Marie V. Salcedo, World Bank Country Director Ndiamé Diop, IMF Deputy Director Sanjaya Panth, DBM Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, DICT Secretary Ivan John E. Uy, Macquarie Asset Management Managing Director Michael Rodriguez, DTI Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo, and BSP Managing Director Tony Lambino. (IMAGE CREDIT: Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C.)
In a speech delivered during the event, the BSP chief cited the slowdown in inflation from 8.6 percent in February to 7.6 percent in March this year. “The BSP stands ready to use all of the tools at its disposal to manage inflation toward the government’s target of 2.0 to 4.0 percent,” he said.
Medalla further stated that “the economy will be supported by price stability, financial stability, and a safe, secure, and efficient payments and settlement system.”
For his part, World Bank Country Director Ndiamé Diop cited the quick and aggressive actions of the BSP in handling inflation.
“This agility and responsiveness of fiscal policy, monetary policy, and the exchange rate policy are behind the formidable resilience of growth in the Philippines,” Diop said.
Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Director Sanjaya Panth said, “We do think the Philippine banking system remains strong. It has limited exposure to troubled financial institutions and has strong capital and liquidity buffers.”
The BSP Governor joined the economic team composed of Finance Secretary and Monetary Board Member Benjamin E. Diokno, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan in engaging with more than 150 participants from the US business and financial communities during the PEB.
Implementing a Medium-Term Fiscal Framework
In the same event, Finance Secretary Diokno explained that the Philippine government is implementing a medium-term fiscal framework to support development goals: “[This] serves as a compass to steer the economy closely along the path of fiscal sustainability and economic growth,” he said.
The medium-term fiscal framework aims to reduce the debt-to-GDP and deficit-to-GDP ratios and sustain high infrastructure spending.
The PEB was also attended by Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel G. Romualdez, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John E. Uy, Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo, Government Service Insurance System President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo A. Veloso, and Social Security System President Rolando L. Macasaet.
Other speakers in the briefing were HSBC Co-Head of the Institutional Client Group and Global Head of Public Sector Banking Michael Ellam, Global Head of Standard Chartered Bank’s Public Sector and Development Organizations Karby Leggett, and Macquarie Asset Management Managing Director Michael Rodriguez.
Held on the sidelines of the IMF-WB 2023 Spring Meetings, the PEB in Washington, D.C. updated US-based business and financial communities on the Philippines’ economic performance, investment opportunities, and the administration’s socioeconomic agenda.