benjamin e diokno : ubs conference call opening statement opening statement by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), of the ubs conference call, 24 april 2020. * * * to our stakeholders from the financial markets, my colleagues from the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ), and to other participants of this conference call, good afternoon. the bsp would like to thank ubs for inviting us to speak to its clients to discuss pressing issues that concern the markets at this time. the entire world is confronted with one of the most difficult challenges to mankind in the last 100 years. the covid - 19 pandemic has led to many deaths and has forced many economies into sharp fall. the philippines is no exception. given the uncertainty as to when the pandemic will subside, the estimated impact of covid - 19 on the domestic economy, in a worst - case scenario, is estimated to be between negative 1 percent and zero. the more upbeat scenario is a growth of between one and two percent. as you know the philippines was in a strong position going into this pandemic. the reforms we implemented in the past and our prudent management of the economy created fiscal and monetary space, which we are putting to good use as we address the challenges from covid - 19. other countries are not as well positioned. we are taking an all - of - government approach to deal with the pandemic, with the primary focus set on addressing public health needs. measures to ease the adverse impact of the crisis on incomes of households and firms are also being undertaken. the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ) is one with the national government and the entire nation in mitigating the impact of the outbreak on livelihoods and lives — that is, in a manner that is decisive, prompt, and efficient. indeed, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. as you may have already read in news reports, the bsp has implemented many unprecedented measures to soften the blow of the pandemic on the economy, and we stand ready to do more if necessary. among these measures, which help ensure much needed liquidity at this critical time and shore up confidence, are the following : a cumulative 125 - basis - point reduction in the monetary policy rate since february 2020 ; purchases of government securities in the secondary market ; reduction

of strong growth. at the end of 2014, asean ( at $ 2. 57 trillion gdp ) was just smaller than france and the united kingdom but larger than brazil, russia and india. 1 the expectation, however, is that asean will continue to outpace the rest of the world. in fact, in a may 2014 report2, mckinsey & company projected that asean will be eventually the 4th largest economy in the world by 2050. to achieve this single base, however, barriers to trade have to be minimized to the fullest extent possible. this allows the economics of “ comparative advantage ” to take over, effectively unbundling distribution of goods and services from their production. in other words, not every jurisdiction needs to produce each and every good that it requires. already, at end 2014, asean gdp stood at $ 2. 57t. france and uk were are $ 2. 829t and $ 2. 942t, respectively while brazil, russia and india were at $ 2. 346t, $ 1. 861t and $ 2. 067t, respectively. “ understanding asean : seven things you need to know ”. mckinsey & company. may 2014. bis central bankers ’ speeches asean is home to 227 of the world ’ s largest companies, ranking us 7th in the world by that metric. 3 this “ unbundling ”, in turn, is important if asean is to service its diverse population with differentiated needs. this demographic detail is key. with 81 million households already in 2013, this is projected to double to 163 million households by 20304, creating an engine that naturally fuels further demand and further growth. creating and sustaining this growth will of course require more labor resources. simulations from the joint work5 of adb and the ilo show that high - skill employment in cambodia, indonesia, lao, philippines, thailand and vietnam could grow by 41 % between 2010 and 2025. with mutual recognition arrangements ( mras ) in place and intended to be expanded, labor mobility will all the more be enhanced. financial markets will certainly play a critical role within this vision. this is because financing is needed by the entrepreneurial initiatives in that single market, augmenting what the respective jurisdictions can provide on their own. for the financial consumer, more choices present themselves under integration. the idea is that under integration, a filipino investor would be able to take on financial instruments out of hanoi nearly as seamlessly as investing in manila