continues to post double - digit, reflecting sustained demand for loans from various production sectors of the economy. liquidity conditions, while growing at a 3 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches moderate pace, remain sufficient to support economic growth requirements, with the latest ratio at 64. 2 percent for q1 2019. the continued soundness and stability of the philippine banking system also lend strong support to economic growth. philippine banks remain robust, well - funded, and adequately - capitalized. as of end - march 2019, the philippine banking system assets expanded by 11. 0 percent year - onyear ( yoy ) to p17. 0 trillion which approximates the size of the domestic economy. the expansion in the banking system ’ s assets was primarily due to increased lending activities. the observed robust asset growth was supported by expansion in bank branch network to 11, 933 as of end - june 2019. deposit liabilities continue to be the primary funding source of the banking system. these deposits are mostly peso - denominated and sourced from resident individuals and private corporations. meanwhile, banks ’ annualized net profit grew by 8. 8 percent to p189. 0 billion for the period ended march 2019. annualized interest income primarily kept the bottomline robust, growing strongly by 27. 7 percent for the first quarter of the year. with respect to banks ’ capitalization level, the capital adequacy ratios ( cars ) of u / kbs on solo and consolidated bases improved to 15. 1 percent and 15. 8 percent, respectively. as you know, these ratios are well - above the minimum threshold set by the bsp and bis of 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively. the increase is due to the capital build - up being undertaken by the industry in anticipation of further expansion of the credit portfolio and investment activities. liquidity remains sufficient as banks maintain adequate high - quality liquid assets. this favorable confluence of strong growth and a manageable inflation environment allows us to be optimistic. nevertheless, there are still challenges that need to be considered. there is the risk of sluggish global growth. in its july 2019 world economic outlook ( weo ), the imf revised its global growth forecast for 2019 from 3. 3 percent last april to 3. 2 percent. trade tensions between the us and china continue to be at the forefront with both countries raising tariffs on different imported goods. at the same time, brexit - related issues continue to be another source of risk. the

in puerto rico, job growth has yet to be firmly established. the recession, which began in 2005, has seen employment leveling off since last summer, but no clear reestablishment of growth. businesses in a variety of services sectors have contributed to the recovery of jobs in the region, including professional and business services, education and health, and leisure and hospitality, as well as finance. the overall expansion of our private sector is being partially bis central bankers ’ speeches offset by ongoing losses in manufacturing and construction, where firms in our region are not matching the modest growth seen in jobs at the national level. in addition, state and local government jobs in our district have declined sharply. after holding steady for much of the recession, state and local governments in new york and new jersey have reduced job counts by more than 40, 000. these losses effectively offset about half of the private - sector jobs created over the period. the government job declines were particularly severe in new jersey and puerto rico, and considerably steeper than in the united states overall. looking ahead, the continued expansion of employment at the national level should have positive effects on many industries in our region. as elsewhere, state and local government will likely be a drag for some time. however, some new detailed job listing data point to an expansion of job openings in a number of key occupations in the region. finally, despite the overall recovery of employment across much of the region, unemployment rates remain very high. although down from their year - ago levels, march ’ s unemployment rate of 8. 0 percent in new york state and 9. 3 percent in new jersey remain unacceptably high. and there is disappointingly little evidence of any sustained improvement in puerto rico ’ s 16. 1 percent unemployment rate. conclusion to sum up, the national economy experienced a soft patch in activity during the first quarter of 2011, while the recovery in much of the region continued at a good pace. new york continued to expand and new jersey has shown signs of turning the corner in the last two months. puerto rico may have bottomed out. during the great recession, most of new york sustained less severe job losses than the nation as whole. by contrast, new jersey ’ s losses were comparable to the rest of the country and puerto rico ’ s job losses have been more severe. as the recovery takes shape, private services are the most likely source of job growth throughout the region. there are many reasons to believe conditions are in place for stronger growth in