Special attention must also be paid to the relative prices of non-tradables, for they include evidence of the degree of real convergence and of future inflation risks. The EC Treaty explicitly emphasises that an accession country has to have achieved a sustainable high degree of price stability.
As of December 2007, these banks had an outstanding loan portfolio of P6 billion, extended to nearly 800,000 clients or an average of 7,500 pesos per borrower. Significantly, our microborrowers have also become net savers; as of end 2007, their combined deposits with banks have reached close to 2 billion pesos.