The Philippines is highly vulnerable to risks from climate change. The Philippines is categorized as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change and natural disasters, especially typhoons. Depending on where a severe typhoon hits the Philippines, it could potentially cause a systemic impact. All major cities and most of the population reside on the coastline, including the metropolitan Manila area where about 60 percent of economic activities take place. On the other hand, exposures to transition risk are concentrated in the coal-based power generation sector and the government’s licensing policy to build new power plants.

The Philippines is a dynamic economy with a relatively smaller financial system than other Asian emerging market economies, dominated by banks. The total assets of the system amount to 126 percent of GDP. However, bank credit is just over 50 percent of GDP and mostly goes to nonfinancial corporates (NFCs). Banks are also tightly interlinked with NFCs through conglomerate ownerships. Access to finance for individuals is significantly lower than comparator systems, with only a third of adults having formal accounts. Non-bank financial institutions and capital markets—especially bond markets—are substantially less developed than banks. The Fintech ecosystem is nascent.