foreign investments act, and the public services act. by opening up more sectors of the economy, we anticipate an increase in job - creating investments moving forward. infrastructure will also help the economy advance to its next stage of development. i call the period 2016 - 2021 as the philippines ’ golden age of infrastructure, with infrastructure spending as a percent of gdp hitting an average of 5 percent. by contrast, infra spending as a percent of gdp averaged 1. 5 percent from 2001 - 2009 and 2. 5 percent from 2010 to 2018. and that ’ s good news for the incoming administration as it will inherit a much - improved state of infrastructure to aid its development agenda. with all these positive developments, we are optimistic about the philippine economy. we expect the economy to grow by 7. 0 to 8. 0 percent this year, and by 6. 0 to 7. 0 percent in the next six years. the imf also has a positive outlook on the philippines. in april, the imf raised its 2022 gdp growth projection for the philippines from 6. 3 to 6. 5 percent, even as it downgraded its growth forecast for the global economy. that said, like the rest of the world, the philippines faces risks to its growth outlook. these include a possible deterioration in the covid situation and a prolonged ukraine - russia conflict, which has led to elevated inflation. on the risk of a deteriorating covid situation, the philippines continues to do mass vaccination. in fact, nationwide second - booster inoculation has begun. on inflation, the bsp ’ s latest estimates show that inflation for the year will reach 4. 6 percent, which is above the official target range of 2. 0 to 4. 0 percent. elevated inflation is seen to be temporary as estimates show this will slow down to 3. 9 percent in 2023. the bsp continues to support non - monetary measures of the national government to manage inflation, including easing importation of certain food items, boosting farm productivity, and granting of direct subsidies to vulnerable citizens. we stand ready to make further adjustments in our policy settings, if deemed necessary, and we remain committed to our price stability mandate. moving forward, the bsp ’ s actions and policy thrusts will continue to be anchored on its core mandates of promoting price and financial stability. toward this end, the bsp will continue to pursue policy actions responsive to the needs of the time. on the financial sector, the bsp will

where these are headed. have we hit the bottom yet?... are we at the top? bottom? is the bsp holding steady?... these are important concerns, of course, because where the peso is and where interest rates are, feed directly and quite concretely into the everyday lives of filipinos. but, i don ’ t have to speak about directionals tonight … everyday you come across some quote from me on these financial prices … so i am certain you already know the stance of the bsp … one, that, the exchange rate will remain market - determined … although, folks, be very aware that the bsp is watching how you conduct yourselves in the market … two, that the policy interest rates will always primarily be dictated by the inflation outlook … but balanced off against concerns on excesses in other segments in the market such as real assets and capital flows. you know that our current assessment is – that inflation over the policy horizon will remain well within our target range of 3 – 5 percent. you must also know that the implication of this on interest rates is that interest rates will remain low over this period. many of you already have a good handle on how the bsp conducts monetary policy and our exchange rate policy. i can say that we have had some success in communicating monetary policy to the market. but we still need to work on conveying the nuances when it comes to financial stability. so, instead of one - dimensional directionals, i would like us to spend the next few minutes discussing financial stability. in the bsp, we believe it is important to pursue financial stability because financial stability makes the transmission of other policies ( including monetary policy ) more effective … moreover, we pursue it because financial stability helps financial institutions better allocate resources. when the risk / return tradeoffs are known and steady, returns are more “ predictable ” even when the risks are relatively higher. in other words, financial stability benefits both the policy makers and the market. so what ’ s new about financial stability? the original draft of this speech contained the bsp financial stability framework … our definition of financial stability … the governance framework in the bsp … and how we are pushing the agenda to go past the bsp borders. but in the interest of time, let me just focus on a couple of points ( well, five points to be precise ) to help you better appreciate what we mean in the bsp when we talk about financial stability, and hopefully