CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) posted an average of four percent during the first semester of this year – an indication that the Philippine economy continues to show resilience amidst the challenging global economic environment.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Director Antonio Cintura, at the mid-year economic briefing domestic roadshow held recently at a hotel here, said that the Philippine economy continues to show resilience amidst challenging global environment with a GDP growing by 3.4 percent in the second quarter of 2011, averaging four percent in the first semester of the year.

“The country is entering into the global economic and financial crisis from a position of strength with a healthy, sustained, and inclusive economic growth to which the BSP has contributed considerably,” Cintura said

He said the pre-emptive steps that the BSP has taken enabled the country to continue to support growth while keeping the inflation within the targeted range of three to five percent for the year.

Healthy banking system has contributed to the growth, where banks are facilitating the smooth flow of credit channeling funds to their borrowers and ensuring confidence to their lenders, he said.

He claimed that the healthy state of the banking system, characterized by solid asset growth and improved loan and asset quality, was the result of sustained implementation of key financial reforms and improved bank risk management.

The BSP also noted the strong external position which continues to support the economy.

“Our prudent external sector policies allow us to post $9.0 billion balance of payments (BOP) while gross international reserves (GIR) grew around $76 billion for the first nine months of 2011, much higher than the country’s external debt of $61 billion,” Cintura said.

He claimed that the build-up reserves give the country a buffer to withstand external shocks brought forth by the uncertainties in the global economy.

“The country’s ever strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals and stronger fiscal position place it in a good position to deal with both natural calamities and economic and financial volatilities,” he added.

Cintura said the healthy economic position has been the constant source of strength underscoring its resilience that resulted in a string of positive rating actions from credit rating agencies.

He said the credit assessment upgrades is an acknowledgement of the good prospects of the Philippine economy stressing that the investment grade rating is within the reach of the country.

The strong macro-economic fundamentals coupled with the Aquino administration’s solid commitment on good governance should push the country’s economic performance to a new and higher economic path, Cintura added.