CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The bank deposits in Central Luzon grew by 19.7 percent in 2013 and the growth was the fastest in Luzon, a member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board (MB) said on Tuesday.
MB member Alfredo Antonio, who was the keynote speaker of the 2014 awards ceremony and appreciation lunch for BSP stakeholders in Region III, said, "banking indicators likewise point to a sound financial system supportive of sustained economic growth in the region."
The MB is the BSP’s policy-making body.
Antonio, who spoke at the BSP branch in Pampanga’s capital city, added that the “a closer look at the regional indicators confirms that this growth is broad-based.”
Antonio said the economy of Central Luzon grew in real terms by 4.3 percent in 2013, albeit lower than the registered growth in 2012. He added that the regional growth was made possible largely by the expansion of the services and agriculture sectors.
Ma. Cyd Tuano-Amador, assistant governor of the BSP’s monetary policy sub-sector, described the economy in Region III as “dynamic and robust.”
“It’s dynamic because it doesn’t rely on agriculture alone,” said Amador, shortly after she and Antonio cited the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Bataan headed by Officer-in-Chargel head Nelin Cabahug for being an outstanding partner in Region III for the report on regional economic developments.
In a report, Antonio said positive growth was recorded in the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing sectors across the regions in Luzon, and Central Luzon posted the highest growth at 5.4 percent in 2013.
Antonio said the country’s gross international reserves is over $80 billion U.S. dollars and “is ample enough to cover 11 months-worth of imports of goods and payments of services.
Antonio said that for the second quarter of 2014, the economy grew by 6.4 percent year-on-year. He added that growth was observed across sectors, led by the industry sector with a double-digit expansion on manufacturing and the services sectors.
He said agriculture rebounded at 3.6 percent from its stagnant growth last quarter and a year ago.
“Notably,” Antonio said, “the economy has consistently expanded by more than five percent in the last ten quarters.”
Antonio boasted that the sustained growth prompted analysts to consider the Philippines as “Asia’s rising star” -- with the economy being one of the fastest growing in Asia.
Antonio said “we are happy to say that inflation has been kept low and stable.” He added that “for the five consecutive years, inflation has been kept well-within the target due to timely and responsive monetary policies.”
Antonio also lauded the stakeholders for their valuable contribution to the BSP’s statistical and information requirements, as well as various advocacy programs.
The BSP awarded at least 76 private firms and government offices in 2014. It started to recognize the BSP stakeholders in 2004. (Joey Pavia/Contributor)