The world has likely seen the worst of the global financial meltdown, but the crisis may be ?far from over,? said the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which maintained cautious optimism that Philippine banks could weather the financial crisis.

Philippine banks? exposure to structured products of all kinds is only around two percent of their total assets, BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., said Tuesday in a speech at the Chamber of Thrift Banks.

That percentage would translate to about P100 billion, out of the banking system?s P5 trillion in total assets.

In Washington DC, the International Monetary Fund said at the closing of its annual meeting with the World Bank that coordinated global action was starting to reverse the tide of the world financial crisis but urged financial leaders to ?deploy all instruments? to limit damage to the real economy.

Espenilla, the BSP officer in charge while Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. is in Washington, cited the IMF?s estimate that only half of the $1.4 trillion in the global financial sector?s losses from the crisis had been provided for so far.

?So it seems this crisis may be far from over, even as more decisive and coordinated steps are already being taken to resolve it,? he said.

Espenilla noted that recently announced plans by the US and European governments to recapitalize ailing institutions had been well-received by financial markets. ?Some of the tension has started to ease. The Philippines has benefited from improved sentiment as seen from the rebound in both the PSE [Philippine Stock Exchange] and the peso,? he said.

The peso surged Tuesday to 46.96 to the dollar before closing at 47.24, from Monday?s finish of 47.26 against the greenback.

?There is reason to believe the worst of the global financial crisis is ... behind us,? Espenilla said. ?The bigger challenge now is to manage the economic fallout that inevitably ensues from recessionary tendencies in the world?s major economies. This may lead to a slowdown in our own economy.?

He added that the Philippines and many countries around the region had so far been resilient?a result of the hard lessons learned from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Any financial crisis such as the current one serves as a reminder of the value of sound regulation and supervision, Espenilla said.

?Serious risks remain and we must continue to be vigilant of the unfolding events in the global financial markets,? he said. ?Ultimately, we are not totally insulated. But we hope to weather this crisis well enough so that setbacks to our economy will be as minimal as possible.? Edited by INQUIRER.net