No recession in PH under my watch — BSP chief
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno promised that there will be no recession for the Philippines under his watch as the incoming Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary in the Marcos administration.
During his interview with BBC Asia Business Report, Diokno expressed continued confidence in the Philippines’ sustained economic recovery after reporting a higher-than-expected 8.3% first-quarter GDP growth on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals.
He added that the country continues to have a healthy buffer stock, supported by the steady inflow of overseas Filipino remittances, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) receipts, and foreign direct investments (FDIs).
As of end-April, the gross international reserves (GIR) amounted to $105.4 billion. The US dollar buffer declined by $1.91 billion from end-March’s $107.31 billion. For this year, the BSP expects a GIR of $108 billion.
The BSP chief made this assurance after dropping hints that another increase in the regulator’s overnight borrowing rate may be expected at the next policy meeting in June.
“I think I have signaled that we are probably inclined to have another 25 bps adjustment on our next Monetary Board meeting, which is on June 23,” Diokno stated.
