My third observation is that the euro area is an attractive place for FDI. A breakdown reveals that inward FDI amounts to more than 27% of euro area GDP, against 22.5% for the United States. The euro area seems to have received, proportionally to GDP, a similar amount of FDI as China – 27.3% for both economies – according to IMF statistics.
Our international reserves as of end 2016 stood at $ billion, adequate to cover over 9 months’ of imports of goods and payment of services, as well as to cushion us from unexpected external shocks. The Philippine banking industry played a significant role in helping sustain the pace of growth of our economy.