. and while countries are preoccupied with the rollout of vaccine programs and recovery efforts, i am pretty sure many investors are in search of business opportunities and destinations that will provide great value for shareholders over the long haul. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches the philippines is a smart investment destination. let me explain why. first, amid a sea of credit - rating downgrades and negative rating outlooks, the philippines has maintained its investment grade credit ratings, all of which are assigned a “ stable ” outlook. debt watchers are one in saying that the philippines has strong pre - crisis fundamentals, has robust medium - term growth prospects, and is inclined to return to its fiscal - consolidation path post covid. second, we have encouraging macroeconomic prospects ahead. for 2021, we expect : • the economy to grow by 6. 5 to 7. 5 percent ; • exports and imports to rebound to a growth of 5. 0 and 8. 0 percent, respectively ; • remittances from overseas filipinos to grow by 4. 0 percent. worth noting is that the 0. 8 percent drop in remittances last year — vs. third - party projections of a double - digit drop — shows resilience of this vital foreign exchange source for the philippines ; • net inflow of foreign direct investments to rise to usd 7. 5 billion from last year ’ s usd 6. 5 billion ; and • external accounts to remain healthy, with hefty gross international reserves and surpluses in the current account and the balance of payments ( bop ). and third, despite the pandemic, the philippines has been able to sustain the reform momentum. for instance, congress has passed, and the president has signed into law, the corporate recovery and tax incentives for enterprises ( create ) bill. this law will slash corporate income tax from 30 to 20 percent and rationalize the fiscal incentives system, making the system performance - based, transparent, and time - bound. on the infrastructure front, the national government continues to ramp up the “ build, build, build ” program, the country ’ s most ambitious infrastructure development agenda. for this year, the government has allotted a record php1. 17 trillion ( us $ 23 billion ) for infrastructure projects, equivalent to 5. 9 percent of gdp. and, as far as the bsp is concerned, we continue to implement measures that enhance the philippines ’ competitiveness as an investment destination. these measures may be classified into three themes

bsp is pushing for legislative measures that will help catapult the philippines toward its next stage of economic development. these measures seek to : • expand the list of sectors that banks can lend to, in compliance with the mandated lending for agriculture development ; • lift secrecy of bank deposits, which will help efforts against tax evasion and money laundering ; • enhance access of micro, small, and medium enterprises to credit through a comprehensive credit database ; • improve the protection of consumers of financial products and services ; and • strengthen the capacity of government financial institutions to provide assistance to micro, small, and medium enterprises and other strategically important companies. the bsp likewise supports national government efforts to push for laws that will further enable foreign investments to the philippines. these bills include : 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches ( i ) amendments to the foreign investment act ; ( ii ) amendments to retail trade liberalization law ; and ( iii ) amendments to public service act. finally, on the bsp ’ s monetary and financial sector reforms … amid an ever - changing landscape, bsp constantly looks for ways to improve our conduct of monetary policy and financial sector supervision. on the monetary front, for instance, the bsp started issuing its own debt securities last september. this increases bsp ’ s set of tools to manage liquidity in the economy, consistent with our price stability mandate. latest estimates by the bsp showed that inflation will average 4. 0 percent this year and 2. 7 percent next year — both within the official target range of 2. 0 to 4. 0 percent. on financial supervision … we issued circulars that keep our regulatory framework attuned to the times. circular 1108 enhances the know - your - customer rules for virtual asset providers. this is in line with our efforts to improve cyber security as we promote financial digitalization. circular 1109 scraps the p1 - million minimum balance requirement for investment management accounts. with this, investment products become accessible to more filipinos, consistent with our financial inclusion objectives. circular 1111 relaxes the implementing guidelines of the agri - agra law. with this, banks may extend loans to more types of enterprises, in compliance with the mandated lending for agriculture development. amid a dynamic regulatory environment, our banking system has been resilient to shocks. banks remain well capitalized. their assets continue to grow. banks are also able to keep their bad debts manageable — far from levels seen in the aftermath of the asian financial crisis.