goals. these pressures notwithstanding, the ministry of finance is adhering to the correct and prudent policy without yielding to demands for unproductive hyperactive steps. b ) continuation of the bank of israel's interest policy, aimed essentially at maintaining price stability. in this respect there has not been, there is not, and there will not be any change in the bank's view of the maintenance of price stability as its major objective. at the same time, the bank will continue to contribute to the government's other economic goals, especially growth and employment, as long as doing so does not adversely impact on the objective of price stability. the bank will also continue to support financial stability. this issue, the bank of israel ’ s objectives, leads me to the bank ’ s role in the economy. the perception of the bank of israel's policy objectives is expressed in the modern approach to central banking, according to which the central bank is an independent institution, with clear division of labor and responsibility between the government, and especially the ministry of finance, on the one hand, and the central bank on the other. the independence of the central bank is vital for the success of the economy. this is because of the irresistible temptation for governments to ask their central banks to print money to finance their activities, rather than imposing taxes on the population. the request to print money can take on different guises, such as a request to cut the interest rate – which initially, under certain circumstances and in the short run may boost growth, but which eventually, after what may be a very short period, leads to inflation. other examples could include a request to finance a particular industry, or to purchase government bonds, or to write off government debts. this danger is particularly acute in democracies, because democratic governments – in all countries and at all times – generally have a short horizon, especially when elections are approaching. hence, despite the fact that printing money ultimately brings inflation, it is not the focus of their concern, despite the destructive impact it has on the economy and the society. in other words, governments in democratic countries have an inflationary tendency. some of us well remember israel ’ s economy thirty years ago, and the crises that resulted from that tendency. price stability should thus be placed in the hands of a professional independent institution that is free of any political consideration and involvement, and that will operate with a longterm perspective. the political systems in advanced countries understood how important this

benjamin e diokno : tracking the philippines ’ economic recovery speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the 16th j. p. morgan philippine conference 2022, virtual, 26 january 2022. * * * good day, everyone. i hope you are all safe and well. i thank jp morgan for inviting me to speak in this virtual event. despite the challenges of the ongoing crisis, the philippine economy remains on the strong recovery path. allow me to give you an overview of the philippine economy from the lens of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ). the gradual reopening of economies and progress in vaccine rollout, 2021 shaped up to be a year of global recovery. however, the global recovery came with challenges, including sluggish and uneven distribution of vaccines. the emergence of new covid - 19 variants also forced governments to reimpose restrictions to contain the virus. against this backdrop, the philippine economy grew by 12. 0 percent in the second quarter of 2021 and by 7. 1 percent in the third quarter. the faster - than - expected expansion in the third quarter was driven by the industry and services sectors. in contrast, the agriculture sector contracted, owing to weather disturbances and the african swine fever that affected livestock. the nationwide rollout of the alert level system, which permitted interzonal and intrazonal travels covering places in lower alert levels, contributed to higher mobility and improved business activities in november and december 2021. the recovery in business activity led to improved employment indicators. some jobs lost in the earlier periods of the pandemic were gradually recovered, with total employment in october 2021 already exceeding pre - pandemic levels. however, high - contact industries, such as accommodation, food service activities, and transportation and storage continued to record job losses. moreover, granular data show that quality of jobs has yet to fully recover. the bsp ’ s accommodative monetary policy and extraordinary measures ensured adequate liquidity in the financial system and helped bolster domestic economic activity amid the pandemic. bank lending appears to have slowly turned the corner in recent months. it grew for the fourth straight month in november, up by 4. 0 percent year - on - year from 3. 5 percent in october. this came with optimistic economic outlook of businesses in response to rising vaccine rollout and easing of restrictions