svein gjedrem : the outlook for the norwegian economy address by mr svein gjedrem, governor of norges bank ( central bank of norway ), for norges bank ’ s regional network, region east, oslo, 25 september 2009. * * * please note that the text below may differ slightly from the actual presentation. the speech is based on the assessments presented at norges bank ’ s press conference following the executive board ’ s monetary policy meeting on 23 september and monetary policy report 2 / 09. it has been a year since financial turbulence developed into a full - blown crisis. the result was the most severe downturn in the global economy since the second world war. key rates were set at historically low levels both in norway and abroad. government spending has increased considerably to support demand for goods and services. global economic activity is now picking up, albeit from a very low level, and unemployment is high. financial market conditions have improved, although liquidity remains tight in many markets. the financial crisis eroded confidence in banks, counterparties and contractual partners. access to export credit came to a halt, international trade slowed sharply and manufacturing sales stalled. with financial markets improving over the past six months and an increase in the credit supply, global trade is now picking up slightly. manufacturing output has recently increased in the us, the uk, japan and many emerging economies, while it continues to fall – albeit at a slower pace – in sweden and the euro area. growth in public demand, stronger confidence in financial markets and low key rates are fuelling investment abroad. even though the global economic situation now seems to have stabilised, there is still a risk of continued low growth for a fairly long period ahead. the severe downturn and fall in commodity prices has led to very low or negative consumer price inflation in many countries. inflation is still moving down and is now negative in for instance the us, the euro area, sweden, japan and china. core inflation is more stable, but has also shown a slight decline recently. the current low level of activity and high unemployment will also act as a brake on inflation in the period ahead. one characteristic of the crisis was the substantial increase in money market rates. confidence between banks evaporated. banks reacted by raising interest rates on loans to businesses and households. they started to turn off the lending tap. measures implemented by central banks and governments have had a stabilising effect. the most important markets have also gradually become less disorderly,

benjamin e diokno : the philippines beyond survival - becoming an economic outperformer post - pandemic speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the scb sovereign investor forum, 14 october 2020. * * * chief executive bill winters, other standard chartered bank officials and all attendees of this virtual roundtable, a pleasant day to all of you. my presentation is divided into three parts. first, i will discuss philippine macroeconomic updates. second, i will talk about how the country ’ s banking sector is faring. and third, i will share insights on where we see the domestic economy is headed post pandemic. first, macroeconomic updates … at this point, i can report that the worst is over. while we ’ re not out of the woods yet, there has been progress as the economy gradually opens up from the strict lockdown in march to june to less stringent quarantine measures. we ’ re learning to live with the virus. now, we ’ re at an inflection point. for instance : the purchasing managers ’ index ( pmi ) moved past the growth threshold of 50, settling at 50. 1 in september. net inflow of foreign direct investments already posted growth rates starting in may, with the latest at 35. 2 percent growth in july. this points to favorable job - generation prospects ahead. speaking of jobs, the unemployment rate improved from a record high of 17. 7 percent in april — which was the height of the lockdown — to 10 percent in july. contraction of imports slowed down from 65. 3 percent in april to 22. 6 percent in august. and, the decline in exports eased from 49. 9 percent in april to 18. 6 percent over the same period. major indicators suggest that financial markets are responding well to our policy responses. and, the peso is among the strongest currencies in this part of the world, recording a year - todate appreciation of 4. 36 percent against the us dollar as of october 13. with all these positive trends as backdrop, we expect an even firmer economic recovery by next year. based on official government projections, gdp will swing from a contraction of 4. 5 to 6. 6 percent this year to a growth of 6. 5 to 7. 5 percent next year. the international monetary fund ’ s latest gdp forecast for the philippines