securities, ( 3 ) establish a reliable yield curve, ( 4 ) develop a set of obligations, rights and incentives of market makers, ( 5 ) introduce an efficient repo market, and ( 6 ) strengthen regulatory oversight over the repo and fixed income market. we will follow a coordinated and deliberate sequenced approach to ensure smooth implementation of these reforms. i am happy to report that to date, we have seen progress from these initiatives. for instance, since june, the btr has been sending “ report cards ” to government securities eligible dealers ( gseds ) highlighting their performance in the primary and secondary markets. these will serve as basis for future recognition of market makers. we have seen performance of gseds improve following the release of these report cards and the unveiling of the roadmap, through improved subscriptions, higher participation in pre - auction surveys, and more gseds providing indicative bids. bid submissions show tighter convergence and presence of outliers are now more limited. from a difference between the highest and lowest bids of 190 bps, spread is now around 25bps. 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches soon, the btr will announce the preliminary market makers and will launch the actual enhanced gsed program early next year. by november of this year, we also look forward to the first trade in the repo market. we are also further liberalizing and rationalizing foreign exchange rules. this is consistent with efforts to enhance the ease of doing business and facilitate job - generating investments. there is also the aim of improving data capture for effective policy decision - making. the amendments of fx regulations are part of a broader thrust for an organized fx market in order to enhance transparency, improve price discovery, and make available more fx instruments, particularly hedging products. finally, we will further promote competition in the banking sector by welcoming more foreign players that can bring in international expertise in customer service, innovation, and even additional fdis. since the full liberalization of the banking sector in 2014 through republic act no. 10641, the entry of ten ( 10 ) foreign banks has been approved by the bsp. we expect – and we want – more players to come in and serve the growing financial needs of our robustly growing economy. ladies and gentlemen, the philippines has come a long way, achieving investment grade sovereign rating status, and becoming an economic outperformer even in the wake of external headwinds. in the next cycle of economic

now stabilized at the present narrow range. based on our studies, the pass - through effect of this on inflation is very minimal. this development is reflected in the country ’ s external payments position, wherein rising imports have resulted in a modest deficit in our current account. the country ’ s overall balance of payments ( bop ) position, nonetheless, is very manageable and can stand resilient against external headwinds as we see stable flows from remittances and receipts from bpo services as well as increasing tourism revenues and foreign direct investments in the years ahead. we estimate a moderate bop deficit of less than one percent of gdp this year. providing liquidity buffers to the bop is the country ’ s international reserves which stand at over $ 81 billion, equivalent to almost 9 months of imports of goods and payment of services. in fact, the country ’ s gir exceeds our gross external debt of usd 72. 5 billion, which has reduced to the equivalent of 23. 5 percent of gdp. i would also like to emphasize that in view of the country ’ s strong external payments position, the philippines has become a creditor to the imf since 2010 from being a chronic debtor. strong macroeconomic fundamentals – robust economic growth, manageable inflation, healthy external accounts, and a stable banking system – these are the fruits of the sound economic management and purposeful reforms implemented in the past. given this very positive backdrop, continuity is not only wise but necessary. rest assured the bsp shall stay committed to the sound conduct of its core functions – namely monetary policy, banking supervision and improvement of the payments system. as in the past, we will also continue in our practice of crafting meaningful and proactive policy reforms that are aligned with best practices and international standards, but which at the same time are sensitive to our unique domestic conditions. in the process, we will continue to engage relevant stakeholders so that policies are attuned to what is happening on the ground. one example of this commitment in practice is our recent enhancement of corporate governance standards among bsp - supervised institutions. the monetary board lately approved revised corporate governance standards, with the bsp expecting board members of its regulated entities to promote a culture of good governance. another example is the enhancement of surveillance tools on the exposures of banks and other supervised institutions to the real estate sector. the monetary board approved enhancements to the prudential reporting requirements for the supervised entities in order to strengthen oversight of their real estate and