messaging that appeals to the youth, the bsp developed animated videos to encourage students to spend wisely and save regularly. to date, thousands have viewed these videos on social media. r & d provides good value for the private sector as well – it can be used for product innovations, targeting niche markets, business model development and strategic decisionmaking. indeed, regulators and providers alike can invest in r & d and leverage on the growing body of financial inclusion research to challenge what we currently know, inspire innovation and propel the speed of financial inclusion across the globe. convergence of local / international objectives / actions the third element that could accelerate the spread of financial inclusion is the convergence of objectives and actions across local, regional and international arenas. we see more and more players and a variety of entities engaged in different aspects of financial inclusion. it is imperative to converge on a common understanding and shared vision so that different actors can move in unison to attain inclusion objectives. the bsp realized the importance of convergence in the course of our financial inclusion work. thus, within our central bank, we have done the following : • established an inclusive finance steering committee, which i chair, to provide common direction and oversight on the bsp financial inclusion agenda. • established an enabling regulatory environment for financial inclusion in the area of policy, regulation & supervision. among others, our issuances on microfinance, micro - banking offices, electronic money, transparent lending, and reduced customer due diligence are inclusion - friendly regulations. these regulations allow banks and non - banks to deliver a range of services to underserved market segments like microenterprises, smes, overseas filipino workers ( ofws ), among others. • in the area of financial education, we implement a nationwide economic and financial learning program ( eflp ) for targeted audiences starting with students, the employed, overseas filipinos and their beneficiaries, and participants in the government ’ s conditional cash transfer program. underpinning this initiative is our belief that a citizenry knowledgeable in practical economics and finance is a better partner in ensuring monetary policy effectiveness, banking system stability and payment system efficiency. • in terms of consumer protection, we institutionalized a consumer assistance mechanism so that consumer concerns are addressed by bsp - supervised institutions. we are implementing a financial consumer protection framework to enforce compliance with market conduct rules and consumer protection principles so that all financial consumers, including the less - sophisticated and vulnerable, are safe - guarded from deceitful

##s ) who exemplify asean integration. i am confident in the ability of our banks to be up to these challenges. yes, we may not be a big market with big banks but our continuing reform agenda has made our banks stronger and more stable. and we have an economy whose prospects attract the interest of not just a few. in moody ’ s recent publication on banking system outlooks covering 67 jurisdictions, the philippines was the only banking jurisdiction rated positive. add to this the fact that the bis central bankers ’ speeches economist intelligence unit ( eiu ) has rated our micro - finance policy framework as the best in the world for the past five years. indeed, there is something to be said about the quality of our banking environment and of the institutions that operate in it. with ample funding liquidity, the challenge for our banks is to identify those initiatives in the real economy, which can reasonably absorb available funding. challenges today, the philippine banking industry is vastly different from what it was during the asian financial crisis. we have achieved sizeable gains since then. moving forward, part of the challenge is to recognize that gains are never absolute. in this imperfect world, there is always something that can be made better or something that market needs to change in time especially since we operate in a global environment that is in constant change. among others, heightened financial and trade integration make our own domestic operations vulnerable to external factors. the most significant of these factors is the speed and degree of normalization of monetary policies in advanced economies and how these would impact their own growth prospects. geopolitical risks that could impact trade and prices of international commodities add to our list of challenges. on the domestic front, as i mentioned near the top of my remarks, the risks that tilt future inflation to the upside are mainly weather and supply side - related, as well as those stemming from volatilities in the financial markets. the bsp has acted pre - emptively to ward off these inflation threats through calibrated tightening of policy stance. we have earlier raised rr and increased sda and the policy rates. we have opted to act in this manner so that banks and other stakeholders would be guided in their own assessments of the risks they face in their transactions. we will not hesitate to make further adjustments, if these are needed, in order to keep inflation expectation well - anchored and therewith limit the occurrence of second round effects. we will also continue to work with other agencies of government to address supply bottleneck