Bank of the Philippine Islands 2010 prospects mixed

BPI expects economy could go either way as country conducts presidential elections next year.

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is “cautiously optimistic” on business prospects for 2010, banking on expectations of a faster pace of domestic economic growth and a sustained rise in corporate earnings while anticipating some uncertainties during the presidential election year.

The bank’s asset management and trust group, which has about P450 billion ($9.79 billion) worth of assets under management, expects Philippine gross domestic product to grow 3.5-4.5 percent next year from at least 1 percent this year.

"In 2008, everybody thought it would be good and then it turned out bad. In 2009, everyone thought it would be bad but it turned out good. For 2010, we really don’t know what to think yet," BPI President Aurelio Montinola III told reporters in a report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Because on one hand, in a country point of view, how can you not do better than the 1-percent [GDP] growth [projected this year]? On the other hand, if you think about it, you have the elections. So in the first six months, the question will be whether election stimulus will offset government stimulus," Montinola said.