benjamin e diokno : one team, one goal - resilient partnership towards inclusive economic growth speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the 2019 awards ceremony and appreciation dinner for bsp stakeholders in region iii, subic, zambales, 13 september 2019. * * * good afternoon, everyone. it is with great pleasure that i welcome all of you to the 2019 awards ceremony and appreciation dinner for bsp stakeholders in region iii. i am pleased that the bsp has been recognizing the invaluable contributions of its partners in central banking for the past 16 years now. the growth in the number and scope of awards given reflects the dynamic support and cooperation you have extended to the bsp ’ s various initiatives and advocacies, which are all geared toward improving the life of every filipino. i cannot overemphasize the value of your support as the bsp continues to navigate the country ’ s economic landscape. by working as one team, we have entered this year from a position of strength and with renewed optimism. based on the country ’ s economic performance, the gross domestic product ( gdp ) grew by 6. 2 percent year - on - year in 2018 and remained firm at 5. 5 percent in the first semester of 2019. on the production side, economic growth was propelled mainly by the robust performance of the services sectors. broad - based expansion in household consumption and government spending reinforced growth on the demand side. meanwhile, january to august 2019 inflation readings have averaged 3. 0 percent, well within the announced target range of 2 to 4 percent of the national government. last august, inflation slowed down to 1. 7 percent. the external position of the philippines is reflective of an economy driven by solid macroeconomic fundamentals and firm growth prospects. the country ’ s balance of payments ( bop ) position for the first seven months of the year posted a surplus of us $ 5 billion, a turnaround from the us $ 3. 7 billion bop deficit recorded in the same period last year. the surplus may be attributed partly to remittance inflows from overseas filipinos during the first six months of the year, and net inflows of foreign direct investments during the first five months of the year. sustained inflows of foreign exchange are expected to continue to support the peso. in the first six months of the year, net

south korea. international investors bought the story. they bought it lock, stock and barrel. the world bank was nice enough not to include the philippines in its east asian miracle. yet, somehow, we did not escape the rosy scenario, nadamay pa rin tayo. in 1995, the metro pacific group, along with a consortium of international investors, submitted the winning bid for fort bonifacio. the bid was us $ 1. 6 billion. it was called " the property deal of the decade. " we all know what happened next. in july 1997, we saw the sudden onset of the asian crisis. all around the region, currencies and stock markets plunged. massive loans went unpaid, property prices collapsed, and tall buildings languished unfinished. the whole region went into recession. we remember the crisis, but we often forget the rosy scenario that led to it. this fsr is about reminding us about the dangers of the rosy scenario and identifying the possible channels of contagion. we purposely wrote our fsr so that it is not a technical report crowded with fancy equations. instead, we wrote it as a thematic narrative that tries to unearth the risks beneath the rosy scenarios. we provide a view of the macroeconomy and the financial markets from the perspective of systemic risk. we present the headline numbers and how they might interact with one another. this particular fsr takes a very institutional - level focus and makes an assessment of how capital markets may play a greater role in the resilience of the philippine economy. so, i invite everyone to download a copy and parse through the pages of the 2023 financial stability report. read about the risks we see and our planned courses of action. let us know what you think, and we are more than happy to engage. join us in navigating the financial stability journey together. marami pong salamat at mabuhay tayong lahat! 2 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches