However, if it becomes common for firms to choose the financial institution offering the lowest loan interest rate among a number of financial institutions when taking out a loan, regardless of whether the financial institutions have any transaction history or capacity to support businesses, business relationships between firms and their main bank will weaken. This may lower the efficiency of financial intermediation.
We are optimistic that this high growth will continue and we will meet the full-year target range of 7 to 8 percent GDP growth in the medium term, or from 2018 to 2022. Demand for Philippine exports is expected to further increase with the economic recovery of our major trading partners, as well as diversification of our export markets.