Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and other members of the economic team will head to New York City this week to hold the fourth overseas Philippine Economic Briefing with leaders of the American business community to provide them a “better-rounded picture” on key developments in the Philippines’ fast-growing economy.

The briefing will be held ahead of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which will bring together the world’s central bankers, ministers of finance and other key government officials in Washington DC to discuss the world economic outlook, aid effectiveness and other relevant concerns.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Secretaries Alan Peter Cayetano of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Ernesto Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Benjamin Diokno of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), along with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Gunigundo, will join Dominguez in New York City on October 11 in conducting the fourth overseas Philippine Economic Briefing to update American investors on the Philippines’ economic performance and policy thrusts and the progress of its infrastructure program and tax reform initiatives.

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, the chairman and CEO of the Ayala Group is also expected to take part in the briefing with the theme “The Rising Philippine Economy: Powering Gains with Global Partners through Shared Goals.”

The New York briefing will be jointly hosted by Deutsche Bank, Citi Group, Standard Chartered Bank and Morgan Stanley.

Similar briefings were earlier held by the economic team in Singapore, China and Japan to inform business leaders in these countries of investment prospects in the Philippines.

Dominguez will proceed to Washington DC along with BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. to join other finance chiefs and central bankers from across the globe in the annual meetings of the two institutions.

In Washington DC, Dominguez will also speak before the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a policy research institution specializing in, among others, US foreign policy, defense and security, economic integration and trade.

Dominguez, who will deliver the opening remarks before American officials, diplomats and representatives of various sectors of the US economy at the CSIS forum on the Philippines, said the event “is an opportunity for us to present a better-rounded picture of where our country is and where we intend to go.”

In the recent Asia leg of the Philippine Economic Briefing series, Dominguez told business leaders in the region that the country’s economy has become “an engine of growth” in Asia, with its second-quarter GDP expanding by 6.5 percent, which is well on track in meeting the full-year target growth rate of 6.5 to 7.5 percent.

An even more significant development is that GDP growth was led by the industry sector at 7.3 percent, and agriculture at 6.3 percent, which is a “departure from the earlier pattern where growth was led by the services sector,” Dominguez said.

Despite the increased spending on infrastructure and social services, Dominguez said the Philippines expects inflation to hover just between 2 percent and 4 percent through the medium term.

On the watch of President Duterte, public sector deficit will be limited to 3 percent of GDP and an 80-20 ratio on loans in favor of domestic borrowings will be a matter of policy to reduce foreign exchange risks, he said.

“Over the past few years, our GDP grew faster than our debt accumulation. Prudence dictates that we strive to maintain this trend. Fiscal stability is key to the sustainability of our economic expansion. We are further modernizing our capital markets to enable the consolidation of capital to support long-term growth,” Dominguez told potential investors in these previous economic briefings.

Dominguez also cited the country’s benign interest rates, the continuing efforts to improve the ease of doing business by cutting red tape, curtailing corrupt practices and limiting its negative list for foreign investments, and training the country’s young and talented workforce to be more globally competitive, as among the factors that would keep the economy on its high-growth path and haul in more long-term investments.