us - china trade tensions, the possibility of a no - deal brexit, and the us - iran standoff on nuclear deal. on the domestic front, we see challenges arising from severe weather disturbances, and the delays in infrastructure projects. despite the risks, we remain optimistic that the philippines provides a unique value proposition that is not short - lived. it is anchored on a dynamic track record of a durable, resilient, and sustainable economic growth. this optimism is not ours alone. this is shared by third - party assessors with the series of favorable assessments released by the international monetary fund, the world bank, the asian development bank1, as well as by international credit rating agencies. in addition, the reform momentum continues. we have seen a number of bills languishing in congress for 2 to 3 decades enacted into law in less than three years under the present leadership. these laws are : 1. republic act ( r. a. ) no. 11211 which amended r. a. no. 7653, the charter of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ; 2. r. a. no. 11127 or the national payment systems act ; 3. r. a. no. 11055 or the philippine identification system ( philsys ) act ; 4. r. a. no. 11256 or the “ gold law ”. 5. personal property security act ( ppsa ) ( republic act no. 11057 ) which boosts access to credit especially of msmes by allowing the use of non - traditional collateral and providing clearer priority rules in case of foreclosure. these also include the islamic banking law which has been submitted to the office of the president and anti - bank hacking legislation which was passed by both houses of the 17th 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches congress. needless to say that the bsp will focus on the strict and prompt implementation of these recently enacted laws that will help the bsp to more effectively perform its mandates. directions let me now elaborate further on what the banking community can expect from the bsp moving forward. in terms of monetary policy, rest assured that future policy actions of the bsp will continue to be guided by the following principles : it will be focused on achieving inflation targets, it will be proactive and pre - emptive, and it will be data - dependent and evidence - based. on the financial sector, the bsp is committed to : strengthen risk governance, leverage on technology,

forecasts for 2013. all these favorable assessments and bright growth prospects were driven by the solid performance of the philippine economy across various indicators. let me cite four : robust and broad - based economic growth. the stronger - than - expected growth performance in 2012 was supported by broadening growth drivers. all major economic sectors advanced during the year. bis central bankers ’ speeches on the supply side, transportation, telecommunication, real estate, and construction business activities pushed the economy forward. meanwhile, on the demand side, growth was boosted by consumer expenditure and government spending. favorable inflation environment and well - anchored inflation expectations. i should point out that the increased activity has not caused the general price level to rise. inflation has generally remained low, and prospects appear to be equally subdued in terms of price. indeed, we expect this scenario of high growth - low inflation to be sustained going forward. sound and stable banking system. the strong economic performance is itself anchored on a sound and stable banking system. deposits continue to build up, allowing loans to similarly expand. much like inflation, our banks ’ capital adequacy ratio shows no sign of vulnerability. this encouraging situation supports our assessment that our banks are ready for the implementation of basel 3. we will roll out the capital adequacy framework of basel 3 in about nine months from today. robust external payments position. a robust external position completes our position of strength. whether we look at the overall bop position or its sub components, we see positive balances. remittances from ofs continue to bolster domestic liquidity while bpo estimated receipts continue to be a positive factor. all these eventually led us to a gir level that is just below us $ 84b. 2013 macroeconomic outlook the macro financial numbers provide us some momentum. nothing in the first quarter gives us reason to take pause. instead, the outlook continues to be encouraging. given available data, we expect growth to further accelerate but this time aside from the growth drivers in 2012, we anticipate a more pronounced contribution from the external trade sector. in addition, remittances from our ofs will continue to be a steadying factor. the bop is also seen to remain in surplus, which in turn will support an even higher level of international reserves. at end 2013, the gir is projected to reach $ 86. 0b. challenges to the economic outlook but while we expect the philippine economy to continue to show resilience, given its solid macroeconomic fundamentals