we waited for alternative mechanisms to be developed before embarking on this journey in order for the reform to be policy neutral. with the recent firm anchoring of market rates to the irc, we now have room for the reduction of reserve requirements over the medium - term as an operational adjustment, which we started early this year. i would like emphasize that the rrr cuts are not intended to be expansionary as these are offset by compensating actions. excess liquidity is reabsorbed through our open market operations and significant fx operations. the upward trend in market rates validates tighter market conditions. finally, i would like to emphasize that the rrr cuts will be gradual and phased over a number of years. we have already achieved significant progress this year. a total of 200 bps reduction in 2018 is in line with our medium - term goal of reducing rrr from 20 percent to single - digit level over a six - year period. moving forward, the bsp will continue to review and improve the operational features of the irc system to ensure greater flexibility and efficiency in conducting monetary operations. indeed, these are important reforms that make us very optimistic about the continued growth of the philippine economy in a sustainable manner. we thank you for your time and interest in wanting to hear about these initiatives. we will be happy to take your questions. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

year, transactions have likewise grown exponentially. the volume surged by almost 13, 000 percent while value surged by more than 40, 000 percent. today we are launching the pilot of the expanded use cases for qr ph which now covers person - to - merchant payments or p2m. use cases under qr ph p2m would include payments to merchants for purchase of goods and services in department stores, pharmacies, supermarkets, hardware stores, and restaurants. later on, qr ph p2m may also be used to making paying bills more convenient and faster. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches under the qr ph p2m pilot run, the facility will initially be made available to a limited number of instapay participants consisting of banks and non - bank e - money issuers. only a select few merchants would be participating in the pilot run to familiarize the market with the use of qr ph and promote public awareness on how convenient and easy it is to use. the pilot period of qr ph p2m will run for several months. we believe that this gradualist approach will help effect a smooth transition of qr - enabled payment services into the qr ph p2m when it is fully launched by september of this year. by then, we can expect many of the key payment service providers to be on - boarded and improved features to deliver enhanced consumer experience. the instapay participants joining the pilot run today include ( 1 ) allbank inc., ( 2 ) asia united bank, ( 3 ) china banking corporation, ( 4 ) paymaya, ( 5 ) rcbc, ( 6 ) robinsons bank, ( 7 ) unionbank. with the implementation of the qr ph p2m, we seek to further saturate the business sector by providing yet another means for even smaller businesses to digitize. i myself was able to experience, how easy it was to conduct qr code - enabled payments. as shown in the demo we just shared, i had the opportunity to try qr ph. indeed, it is as simple as scanning a code using your mobile phone. it is hassle - free because you need not worry about having to bring any cash or card with you, nor would you need to get the account information of the merchant. after experiencing the convenience of qrph, i can ’ t help but share it with you. i ’ m truly excited for our fellow kababay