Philippines

With strong capitalisation and credit growth on the back of robust GDP figures and falling inflation, the Philippine banking sector now faces a year in which consolidation of gains and expansion into new demographics are on the agenda. The country continues to be well served by a variety of lenders, with universal and commercial banks supplemented by a wide array of thrift banks, rural and...

The Philippines is a key bridge between the Americas and Asia, making it a natural conduit for global trade flows. The country also has some of the strongest economic growth rates in the Asia-Pacific region, with growth at 6% or more for 16 out of the 20 quarters between 2014 and March 2019. The nation will continue to have considerable demand for imports as major public infrastructure...

With some 175 ethnolinguistic groups spread across the vast archipelago of the Philippines, uniting remote regions and distinct communities under a national identity has been a challenging task for the central government. Political power gradually became concentrated in the present capital Manila under Spanish and US colonial regimes, and the notion of a strong central government was embraced...

Spanning more than 300,000 sq km, the Republic of the Philippines reaches from Taiwan in the north to Indonesia in the south. The Philippines is the fourth-largest country in South-east Asia in territorial size and is home to some 175 ethnolinguistic groups across over 7000 islands. In terms of population, it has the 13th-largest population in the world and the seventh largest in Asia....