Sacramento Business Journal Q&A

Q&A:   Please share your thoughts on the future of the economy.  Do you see any signs of a downturn?

Virginia Varela, CEO/President, Golden Pacific Bank:  "There have been conversations in most of the industry publications of a 'frothy' economic condition that could lead to a downturn in the economy.  Yet, we have not seen traditional signs of economic heartburn such as yield curve swings, delinquencies in traditional products, increasing unemployment statistics and real estate absorption levels.  I feel that the landscape for the prediction of economic conditions has widened and become significantly more complex.  Economic disrupters have changed and become more significant such as: trade talks with China and potential tariff expansions, the Federal Reserve's ability to shrink their balance sheet as a result of quantitative easing to a more risk adverse position without a negative economic effect, and of course the political environment that we are in where our legislators on a national level spend less time on governance than on partisan agendas."