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Philippines: ‘Storm clouds’ loom over economy
THE former governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) sees three “storm clouds” that can affect the economy in the Philippines.
Amando Tetangco Jr., former BSP governor, identified them as rising debt across countries, surging global inflation and policy normalization in advanced economies.
“There is dangerous trend of increased debt is present domestically and internationally. The slowdown of economic activity, combined with increased expenditure payout, has forced governments, including the Philippines to borrow from domestic and foreign sources,” he explained during the First Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) CEO Forum 2022 in July.
“Domestically, a plan for fiscal consolidation to improve the debt situation needs three key factors — continuous growth, balance in managing the effort to reduce fiscal deficits without undermining the recovery and sustaining the program to bring down debt ratios which can take years,” Tetangco added.
Another speaker of the BAP forum, Ateneo de Manila University economics professor and former secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority Cielito Habito, emphasized “going back to basics in order to let the economy grow.”
He also detailed ways to improve the current macroeconomic environment, along with his projections for the economy with the new administration.
“We must put people first, maximize our land and water resources, and reshape our services,” Habito said.
He also emphasized the importance of the agriculture sector, noting it has seen growth during this pandemic. “We must look toward our Asean brothers in terms of how we deal with how we use our natural resources by recognizing the importance of agriculture in the generation of jobs and export products,” he explained.
Asean is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The BAP CEO forum is a quarterly gathering of executives in the banking sector to discuss local and global finance and economic issues relevant to the banking industry.
In his opening remarks, BAP President Antonio Moncupa Jr. hailed the forum’s resumption.
“I am pretty sure we are all thinking about how the economy — and consequently the banks — will fare in the face of the pandemic, global inflation, the resulting monetary tightening cycle, the Ukraine war, recession talks in major economies, the uncharacteristically negative outlook for China, the muscular dollar and the expected slowdown in world economic growth,” Moncupa noted.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/08/09/business/top-business/storm-clouds-loom-over-economy/1853913