Pangilinan, who chairs PLDT Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., said businesses have a responsibility to help revive economic growth even as inflation, high interest rates and a weakening peso weigh on confidence.
“Well, you know, it’s tough out there, and it could get tougher with the impact of the El Niño, right? And it concerns us,” Pangilinan told reporters on Wednesday.
He also identified interest rates as a bigger concern than the peso’s depreciation because most of his group’s businesses earn revenues and borrow money in the local currency.
No time to hibernate
“So, in a situation like this, what do you do? Do you dig yourself a foxhole and just hibernate until hopefully this thing blows over?” he asked.
“But I think that’s not the right thing to do. I think we have to be proactive in helping the economy recover and helping the government do that in whatever way we can.”
Pangilinan said the best response was to continue committing capital to productive businesses while remaining disciplined about where the money goes.
“And the best way is for us to continue investing, judiciously, of course. But to continue investing, it’s not to retreat and hibernate,” he said.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
