CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—An official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Wednesday the Philippines is in a better position to face challenges amid the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) economic cooperation.
During the second Conference on Gearing Up for External Competitiveness (CGUEC) in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental province, BSP Monetary Board Member Valentin A. Araneta said that, with sound banking policies, the Philippines is in a better position to face those challenges beyond 2016.
The CGUEC, which is part of the BSP’s Economic and Financial Learning Program, has brought together members of the business sector, academe and government in northern Mindanao and provided an opportunity to raise the awareness of exporters, importers, organizations of overseas Filipino workers, business-process outsourcing firms, and entities with foreign-currency dealings and obligations on the many ways to manage their foreign-exchange risks and discuss the issues that impact the country’s external competitiveness.
The World Bank said the Philippines still faces the so-called inclusive-growth challenge, in which creating better jobs, reducing poverty and protecting the vulnerable are the bigger issues that the Aquino administration still has to face.
Dr. Rogier van den Brink, World Bank lead economist, said economic growth is necessary, but is not sufficient to ensure poverty reduction, unless poor and vulnerable households are protected from shocks.
He also said raising the returns of labor, which is the main asset of the poor, and putting in place appropriate social-protection schemes and raising human-capital endowment would address poverty in the country.
Image credits: Butch D. Enerio