By Katrina Gracia Consebido
A Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official said the Bank expects the country’s inflation “to be within the government’s target” by the third or fourth quarter of 2023 and throughout 2024.
During the Philippine Economic Briefings in Frankfurt and London last January, BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla stressed the central bank’s “commitment to its mandate as an inflation-targeting central bank and to bringing inflation back to a target consistent path.”
Medalla said the government’s target range of 2 to 4% is achievable by the third or fourth quarter this year.
He also noted the banking system’s soundness and stability in 2023 and the BSP’s ongoing payment system modernization.
The country’s inflation quickened to 8.7% in January, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, UBS Group Treasurer Bea Martin noted that “growth prospects are very bright in the Philippines.”
“This is a country that is expected to grow 7 to 8% also over the medium- to long-term [and] outperform peers in the region,” Martin said.
“The Philippines has been one of the most dynamic economies in Asia Pacific where solid macroeconomic fundamentals reinforced by a number of reforms enabled [the country to] withstand most of the headwinds,” she added.
In his keynote message, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno cited the country’s “strong macroeconomic fundamentals, well-crafted structural reforms, and bright economic prospects” for European investors.
“Our growth agenda rests on a credible policy framework,” Diokno said.
“To sustain our hard-earned gains, we have put together a comprehensive socioeconomic agenda to tackle immediate concerns while setting into motion deep economic and social transformation where growth opportunities for all Filipinos abound,”he added. – gb
