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.
Together, the price trends in core goods and nonhousing services, the tentative indications of some deceleration in wages, the evidence of anchored expectations, and the scope for margin compression may provide some reassurance that we are not currently experiencing a 1970s-style wage–price spiral.