governor of the bangko sentral is for there to be continuity in the policies that brought about this favorable economic environment, with space for improvements through bold and strategic financial sector reforms. 1. increasing gross domestic product - developments in 2017 point to overall economic resilience. real gdp rose by 6. 4 percent in the first half of this year with stronger economic activity expected in the second half. 2. manageable inflation. - although headline inflation rose to 2. 8 percent in july ( from 2. 7 percent in june ), the year - to - date average inflation rate is 3. 1 percent. we expect it to stay that way. we therefore will meet the inflation target of 3 percent, + / - 1 percentage point allowance for 2017. 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches fostering a stable business environment is primordial to the bsp. keeping inflation low and stable does away with uncertainty and better enables businessmen and investors ( like yourselves ) to plan and make informed decisions about consumption, investment, saving, and production. moving forward, the bsp will continue to fine - tune its monetary policy framework to make it more market - oriented, while staying focused on inflation control. we deployed the interest rate corridor ( irc ) system in 2016. its objective is to make market interest rates move closer to the bsp policy rate. in the long run, this supports philippine capital markets by encouraging money market transactions and better liquidity management. 3. ample domestic liquidity - latest data also shows ample domestic liquidity. bank lending remains upbeat and continues to flow into productive sectors such as real estate ; power and utilities ; manufacturing ; wholesale and retail trade ; and information and communication. 4. sound and stable banking system - our banking sector is fundamentally sound. the reforms put in place by the bsp, along with banks ’ commitment to manage operational risks have resulted in significant improvements in the quality of bank assets and loan portfolios as well as strong capitalization. also, i am pleased to note that as banks fund the domestic economy, they remain prudent in their lending activities. the bsp will continue to review and align regulations with international standards to improve risk management and improve bank competitiveness in view of asean integration. working towards a stronger and more stable banking system is a practical goal. banks support the financing needs of our continuously growing economy and have a role in efficient allocation of resources. 5. market - driven exchange rate and adequate gir - recent developments in the exchange

eli m remolona : navigating the road ahead - looking back to look forward speech by mr eli m remolona jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the 30th anniversary reception for the banking community, manila, 28 july 2023. * * * former central bank governors, members of the monetary board, friends from the banking sector, the diplomatic corps and fellow workers in government : magandang gabi po ; good evening! tonight, i am honored to be standing here before all of you. thank you for joining us tonight. let me begin by expressing my gratitude to my predecessor and good friend, governor philip medalla. while he's not able to join us tonight, i want to express my thanks to him for his dedication to upholding the integrity of our monetary system and for resolutely keeping the economy to its course towards price stability. let me now tell you about an interview i had two weeks ago with kathleen hays, bloomberg's dean of economic reporting. she asked me, " governor, when you're not thinking about monetary policy, what do you think about? " the right answer, of course, was, " when i'm not thinking about monetary policy, i think about my lovely wife! " but being the central banking nerd that i am, i said instead, " when i'm not thinking about monetary policy, i think about banking supervision and the payments system! " so you'll forgive me for saying a few words about each of those three things : monetary policy, banking supervision and the payments system. let me start with how our economy recovered from the crisis of the pandemic. as we all know, it was a surprisingly strong recovery. coming out of a crisis, it was a recovery like no other. what was the difference this time? i'd say it was the banking system. our banks maintained more than adequate levels of capital and remained flush with liquidity. this time, there was no need to repair balance sheets. i have said this before, and i'll say it again. unlike in previous crises, this time our banks were part of the solution rather than part of the problem. let me pause at this point to thank our friends in the banking sector. and let's not forget to also thank deputy governor chuchi fonacier for her persistence and that of her team in