the reopening of economies, remittances grew by 5. 1 percent in 2021 and 2. 4 percent in the first quarter alone of this year. another source of foreign exchange are receipts from business process outsourcing services. they grew by 9. 5 percent last year. in lien with the depreciation of other emerging market currencies due to the ukraine - russia conflict, the peso posted a manageable year - to - date depreciation of 2. 6 percent to 52. 37 pesos. the bsp observes a market - determined exchange rate policy. it intervenes only to ensure orderly market conditions and prevent excessive short - term volatility. another strength of the philippine economy is our sound and stable financial system, an offshoot of a long list of regulatory reforms since the asian financial crisis. prudent lending standards help banks keep their bad debts manageable while ample capitalization enables them to absorb shocks. credit rating agencies share the view of the philippine economy ’ s resilience. amid a wave of credit rating downgrades globally resulting from the pandemic, the philippines has managed to maintain all its investment - grade credit ratings. while policymakers were preoccupied with pandemic response, we did not lose focus on our vision of a stronger and more inclusive post - covid economy. the bsp is contributing to this vision through its digital transformation agenda. by 2023, bsp aims to digitalize at least half of retail payments and onboard at least 70 percent of filipino adults to the formal financial system through transaction accounts. complementing the agenda is the new financial products and services consumer protection act. the law improves the resolution mechanisms for financial consumer complaints, including those involving cybercrimes. the bsp has also issued six digital banking licenses. the covid - 19 pandemic emerged as a catalyst for digitalization. as a result of the pandemic, the volume and value of electronic payments in the country grew exponentially. the bsp also contributes to the vision of a stronger post - covid philippine economy through its sustainable finance agenda. we have issued regulations requiring banks to incorporate sustainability principles into their operations. we are also among the early investors in the bank for international settlements ’ green bond fund and the asian green bond fund. we did not sit idly by as the virus raged. congress approved three landmark laws that further open the philippines to foreign investors. there are the amended retail trade liberalization act, the

equity, which is the key to an innovation economy. the aim is crystal clear : within a monetary and banking union, a cross - border merger must not be more difficult and cumbersome than a “ domestic ” merger. several levers must be pulled if the obstacles to these activities are to be removed. from a supervisory point of view, this involves promoting a consolidated approach by granting more waivers on liquidity and capital so as to allow more flexible capital allocation and limit ring - fencing. from a resolution point of view, internal mrel requirements should be a tool to facilitate the resolution of institutions, but they would become meaningless if calculated on a national basis. they must be calculated at the level of the banking union, considered as a unique jurisdiction. indeed, compartmentalising an internal mrel within national borders would be an obstacle to the single market and european banking crossborder mergers. as a first concrete step, i suggest that the european banking authority publish a comprehensive stock - taking of all the regulatory and supervisory obstacles to cross - border activities and mergers. * * * conclusion : banks must be prepared for these extreme situations because : - there is no such thing as zero risk, despite the improvements to prudential regulations and the reinforcement of banks'financial capacity. - the failure of a single participant, even one considered to be secondary, can have systemic effects, as even the largest groups are now no longer immune. since 2011 and the end of the " too - big - to - fail " doctrine, these groups have become increasingly aware of this, and have drawn up their recovery plans and worked closely with the authorities to ready themselves for crisis situations. the role played by the authorities in these continued efforts is crucial. accordingly, the acpr in france, and the ecb and the srb at banking union level, guide and support these efforts, while also preparing for failure scenarios. to this end, as of 2015, the acpr has provided a decisive boost that has led to the drafting of the first resolution plans by france's leading institutions. today, all institutions under the authority of the single resolution board have a resolution plan in place. as for the institutions under the direct responsibility of the acpr, a first wave of plans has been completed and plans will be finalised for all the 142 institutions concerned at the end of 2018. these combined efforts to pre - empt and to manage crisis situations must therefore be maintained in order to ensure the continuity of banking operations that are essential