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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) under a new leadership is living up to its role of supporting economic growth. It reduced the benchmark interest rates on May 9, the first time under the leadership of Governor Benjamin Diokno. A week later, it announced a 200-basis-point reduction in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for universal and commercial banks, a move that would effectively release over P230 billion worth of additional liquidity into the market.

As I write this column, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is still in the process of canvassing the votes cast during the last May 13, 2019 elections. But the initial official results and the more than 98% unofficial tally by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) seem to indicate that the midterm election was a resounding success for the administration coalition.

The 5.6-percent economic growth in the first quarter of 2019 is still healthy and no cause for alarm. The Philippine economy still registered one of the highest growth rates in Asia, and I believe it is poised to expand more robustly in the remaining quarters of the year as the government plays catch-up with the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.