Let me first thank the Financial Times and First Metro Investment Corporation for inviting me to address this inaugural Philippine Investment Summit. The Summit couldn’t have come at a better time. Today, emerging market economies, including the Philippines and other Asian countries, face a “new wave of market volatilities”.
In the first quarter of this year, many EMEs saw large capital outflows, which resulted in EME currencies depreciating, bond yields rising, and equities coming under pressure. Although some of these trends have somewhat dissipated in the last few weeks, risks from the underlying reasons for the volatilities remain. I therefore welcome this opportunity to share some of our thoughts on the remaining risks.