benjamin e diokno : central banking beyond numbers speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the bankers'night and book launch, manila, 26 july 2019. * * * our partners in the banking community and the private sector, members of the diplomatic corps, my colleagues in public service, good evening and welcome to the bangko sentral ng pilipinas. i am pleased to host tonight ’ s reception for the banking community. this month of july, we celebrate bsp ’ s 26th anniversary. at the same time, we commemorate an important milestone : the 70 years of central banking in the philippines. a distinguished heritage few institutions in the country can claim such a long and distinguished heritage. the book that we will launch shortly — written by career central bankers themselves — stands as a testament to this as we get a glimpse of what the central bank has done through these seven decades : the evolution of ideas, the progression to policies until its fruition to execution of programs and projects that ultimately redound to the benefit of the filipino people. if we look back on our path from the post - war 1949 central bank headed by our first governor miguel cuaderno, sr. up to today, we realize that the journey has not been easy. there were twists and turns, bumps and even detours but we held on and stayed on track. the passage of r. a. no. 11211 which amends the bsp charter is very timely as it enables us to cope with constantly evolving challenges. this new law bolsters our capability to safeguard the stability of prices and the financial system. a mandate for all this brings me to my next point — that strong institutions are critical in nation - building and this is true for a central bank. so for us here in bsp, our ability to deal with the risks and challenges of the economy is largely dependent on how well - prepared and pro - active the central bank is. we have our radars. we see the risks, the threats, and even gaps and opportunities. we address all these — and we have our toolkits that we would willingly use as needed. in the process, the numbers change and show good results : inflation is tamed ; philippine banks remain robust, well - funded, and adequately capitalized ; the credit - liquidity dynamics in the country are consistent with expanding economic activities ; the external

achieve greater and broader access to financial services, uphold the integrity of financial system and safeguard the interest of the public, and accelerate capital markets reforms. in addition, bsp also remains committed to maintain a safe, efficient, and reliable retail payments system in the country through the implementation of the national retail payments system. with exponential growth of the electronic retail payments through pesonet and instapay and the initiatives being rolled out by the bsp and the private sector, the bsp is optimistic that we will achieve our goal of 20 percent of payments through electronic means by 2020. [ by the way, pesonet and instapay are payment options should you wish to buy the book that we are launching tonight. you may pay using pesonet and instapay. the bsp is not only pursuing the delivery of its primary mandates. it recognizes the need to democratize the access of the public to various financial instruments, products and entities. this is the essence of financial inclusion. so alongside these commitments, the bsp will continue to pursue liberalization reforms in the foreign exchange market to foster a more enabling environment for economic activities. meanwhile, in order to preserve and maintain currency integrity, the bsp is continuously accepting, retiring and replacing unfit currency in circulation ; conducting anti - counterfeiting operations ; promoting clean note and coin policy ; and enhancing economic and financial awareness. i am also pleased to mention that by the first quarter of 2020, our banknotes will have the following security enhancements in our banknotes : upgraded windowed security thread with unique color and design per denomination ; anti - copying and anti - scanning features ; and incorporation of tactile marks which is meant for the elderly and visually - impaired. let me now highlight the priority legislative measures that the bsp will pursue under the 18th congress. these bills seek to further enhance access to quality financial products and espouse the interests of the general public. these include : amendments to the bank deposit secrecy laws which aims to align our existing law with international standards on transparency to combat both domestic and global tax evasion, money laundering, and other financial crimes. ; the financial consumer protection bill which aims to provide a comprehensive financial consumer protection regime that consolidates financial inclusion, financial education, good governance, and effective supervision for the purpose of consumer protection. ; and reforms to agricultural financing which seeks to amend the agri - agra law and allow banks 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches to merge their loan allocation to