The Philippine economy has been improving significantly after 74 straight quarters of positive growth.
This was disclosed by Monetary Board Member Dr. Felipe Medalla of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) during the “Conference of Gearing Up for External Competitiveness” held recently in Dumaguete City.
“The last time we had negative economic growth was in the first quarter of 1999,” he said.
The BSP official said the country’s economy remains robust on the back of resilient demand with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.2 percent this year.
Dr. Medalla cited the factors of the country’s several economic improvements, which include the creation of BSP to replace the old Central Bank of the Philippines, contributions of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) with 1.3 million workers nationwide, and the skills of the Filipinos.
“Of course, part of it is that the government became better in terms of managing its finances, and the fiscal management of the government is good,” he added.
The conference brought together participants from the business sector, banking community, academe, and government agencies in Negros Oriental to discuss issues that impact the country’s external competitiveness, developments in the global business environment, and management of exchange rates.
BSP together with private sector partners provided insights for the local business community to help or use in their business decisions so they can adapt in a globally changing environment. (jct/PIA7-Negros Oriental)
