nestor a espenilla, jr : beginning a meaningful conversation - first coordination dialogue on developing the local debt market speech by mr nestor a espenilla, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the local debt market development workshop, manila, 25 august 2017. * * * the securities and exchange commission, the bureau of treasury, and the bangko sentral ng pilipinas are no strangers to coordination and collaboration ( many of our achievements come from working together! ) and while this is not our first time to collaborate, it is the beginning of a new and meaningful conversation. today, we mark a milestone as we unveil the philippine roadmap for developing the local debt market. at the same time, we look forward to engaging in an initial discussion with market participants. this is a great time to begin this conversation! recently, our capital market was recognized as an emerging investment hub in asia by three major debt watchers – moody ’ s, standard and poor ’ s, and fitch. robust economic conditions coupled with government ’ s thrust to promote infrastructure create favourable conditions for capital market deepening. government ’ s vision of a “ golden age of infrastructure ” to support value - added output to the housing, manufacturing, connectivity and agricultural sectors is a game changer. 1 a deeper capital market will mobilize long - term savings for the financing requirements of these priority industries. moreover, gdp is projected to grow at 6. 8 percent in the medium term, with the inflation outlook for the next two ( 2 ) years manageable and within the government ’ s three ( 3 ) percent ± one percentage point target. our international reserves are at a level of eighty point eight billion us dollars ( usd80. 8b ) as of end - july 2017 — enough to cover eight point six ( 8. 6 ) months of imports and payments of goods and services. as if these are not encouraging enough, our discussion on capital market reform received support via technical assistance from the imf. the time is right to talk and take up reforms. colleagues and friends, it is our pleasure to start this conversation with you and to make local history. i am honoured to represent the bsp in this regard. sec commissioner ephyro amatong, treasurer of the philippines, rosalia de leon, representatives of the bankers association of the philippines ( bap ), headed by president nestor tan and bap open

market committee chairman wick veloso, the money market association of the philippines under president michael joseph delfino government securities eligible dealers ( gseds ), esteemed guests, on behalf of the monetary board and the bangko sentral ng pilipinas, i welcome you to the bsp. magandang hapon sa inyong lahat. allow me to share some pointers on how to make common - ground conversations more meaningful. these tips are borne not just out of my thirty - six ( 36 ) years of experience as a central banker not just as deputy governor of the supervision and examination sector for twelve ( 12 ) years but these points were learned chiefly in my capacity as a friend and colleague ( perhaps even as a husband and father! ). 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches in my experience, a conversation is more meaningful when : first, it is between those with the same goals. in this, there is no issue. as mentioned earlier, the sec, btr and bsp have always been partners. for one, together with other institutions, 2 we are members of the financial stability coordination council ( fscc ). the fscc ’ s key objective is to identify, manage and mitigate the build - up of systemic risks. our institutions share the prudential objective of financial stability and development. our being here today is just a step - up an expression and a specific operationalization of our original goals. in this particular case, we share the same vision of developing our local currency debt market to support our growing economy in a sustainable manner. as a result, the capital market working group of the bsp, the btr, and the sec, with the support of the department of finance, joined hands in developing the philippine roadmap to accelerate the development of the domestic debt market. three areas are prioritized : deepening the local bond market by adopting reforms to incentivize market - making, increasing supply of short - term debt securities, and developing an effective regulatory framework for the repo and otc government securities markets ; ( 2 ) the creation of reliable financial benchmarks and valuation of financial instruments ; and ( 3 ) the establishment of an integrated financial market infrastructure to promote price discovery, transparency and orderly trading, clearing, and settlement of the full range of financial transactions. second, the value of a conversation is greater when those who engage in it understand its relevance and importance. otherwise, discussion is just chatter