remained above national and international standards. and we did not see a freezing of credit markets similar to what was happening in the us and europe then. given all these indicators, one could say “ so far, so good ”. nevertheless, we are aware that risks remain. thus, in october 2008, at the height of the uncertainty surrounding this crisis, the bsp implemented preemptive measures to boost domestic liquidity. the following are among these measures : • enhancement of the bsp ’ s standing peso repo facility by expanding allowable collateral and relaxing valuation on these ; • creation of a us dollar repo facility to augment dollar liquidity in the foreign exchange market and ensure the ready availability of credit for imports and other legitimate funding requirements ; • increase in the budget for our peso rediscounting facility to p60 billion ; and • reduction in the regular reserve requirements on bank deposits and deposit substitutes by two percentage points. in addition, the bsp took the opportunity to reduce policy rates in the light of easing inflation expectations. during the last four policy meetings, the monetary board cut bsp ’ s policy rates by a total of 150 basis points. combined, the lower cost of money and increased liquidity should support continued economic growth. we will continue to monitor developments to ensure that our policy settings remain appropriate and balanced. nevertheless, while there has been monetary easing, the bsp remains unrelenting in its pursuit of reforms. we will continue to pursue greater efficiency, better risk management, stronger capitalization, improved disclosure and transparency practices, and enhanced corporate governance standards in the banking system. so far, the reforms we have implemented have allowed our banks to efficiently perform their central role of channeling funds to productive uses, as well as in managing and distributing risks. having a more efficient and liquid philippine banking sector has helped mitigate the risk of what is called the negative feedback loop from the global financial crisis. having said these, there is a critical question that we have to face : will the global financial crisis affect the world ’ s microfinance sector? microfinance scholars have grappled with the first question. unfortunately, the results from their initial studies remain inconclusive. one study by the united states agency for international development ( usaid ), published in march 2009 and entitled “ will the bottom of the pyramid hit bottom? ” 1 states that ( and i quote ) the crisis may ultimately lead to a squeeze in mfis ’ profitability.

. the implementation of the revised risk - based capital framework for banks was also deferred from end - 2021 to end - 2022 - the period of relief on the reporting of past due and non - performing loans of borrowers affected by the pandemic was also extended to 31 december 2021 from the original timeline of 8 march 2021 subject to reporting to the bsp. - these policy issuances reinforce earlier pronouncements of the bsp that relax the know - yourcustomer requirements for retail clients to facilitate their access to formal financing channels. given a manageable inflation path, the bsp has kept the key policy interest rate at 2. 0 percent in its latest monetary board meeting. the bsp ’ s policy and liquidity - easing measures have injected into the financial system a total liquidity equivalent to around 13 percent of the country ’ s full year nominal gross domestic product for 2020 as of november 11, 2021. moving forward, the bsp ’ s actions and policy thrusts will continue to be anchored on its core mandates of promoting price and financial stability. towards this end, the bsp will continue to pursue appropriate policy actions responsive to the needs of the time. on monetary policy : the bsp will remain vigilant over the current inflation dynamics to ensure that the monetary policy stance continues to support economic recovery to the extent that the inflation outlook would allow. it will carefully scan the operating environment with a forwardlooking perspective to move in a pre - emptive fashion to address any risks to our price stability mandate. on the financial sector : the bsp will intensify its monitoring and surveillance over its supervised institutions to ensure that they remain resilient to emerging risks and continue to be sound, stable, and inclusive, particularly through the pursuit of enhanced digitization. finally, on the external sector : the bsp will remain supportive of policies that will help strengthen the economy ’ s resilience to external shocks, including that of maintaining a market - determined exchange rate, keeping a comfortable level of reserves, and keeping the country ’ s external debt manageable. more recently, the country has managed to successfully reduce the number of covid - 19 cases. as of the other day, the philippines logged 425 new covid - 19 cases. this is the lowest since july 2020. considering the recent economic developments and significant improvement in vaccine rollout, we are optimistic that there is sufficient support for the country ’ s recovery this year and in the near term.