Ladies and gentlemen, today, OUR market is on every investor’s radar screen. I ask all of you: where do you want this market to be as we hold the 3rd, 4th and 5th Philippine International Banking Conference and perhaps the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Asian Banking Summit? I have every reason to believe that we all share the same answers.
Significant growth has emanated from the tertiary sector, with finance, insurance, real estate and the business services sector contributing around 21 per cent. Government services have also aided economic activity in line with the countercyclical spending. On the expenditure side, growth has been largely driven by final demand – in particular consumption expenditure by households.