may consider sponsoring or conducting studies to contribute to the growing literature on the philippine banking system. we will be happy to be your partner in this endeavor as we also recently created a bsp research academy. the bsp looks forward to our continued partnership in retooling, reskilling, and shaping the professional development of our colleagues in the banking industry. i would also like to recognize the officers and committee chairpersons of the baiphil in the past year under the leadership of our very own assistant governor resty cruz. under their leadership baiphil remained strong and productive despite the ongoing crisis. maraming salamat at mabuhay po tayong lahat! 6 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches

particular on successful experiences already carried out in some member states. the issue now at stake is how to implement these reforms, which requires careful efforts in terms of communication in order to explain to the citizens why and how such reforms would contribute to higher economic growth and more job creations. * * * let me conclude. when looking at the necessary structural reforms in europe there is a key word in my eyes. and this key word is “ flexibility ”. why? we are now leaving in a global economy called to change extremely rapidly under three largely unprecedented phenomena. first the remarkable pace of present progress in science and technology, and not only in ict technologies but on a very large front including bio and nano technologies and materials science. second the unprecedented very large scale taking off of the emerging economies, and not only india and china but also the full body of the emerging world and the economies in transition from centrally planned systems. and third, the equally unprecedented phenomenon of economic globalisation, and not only globalisation of trade and finance but also the global immediate sharing of issues and ideas, of problems and possible solutions, what i would call a brand new conceptual globalisation. in this new global economy we all are deemed to change extremely rapidly. i would say that the opportunity cost of not being sufficiently flexible has considerably increased. the differences that we see on both sides of the atlantic as regards labour productivity progress are one illustration of this opportunity cost. the maximum speed of changes that are theoretically possible and socially acceptable in any given economy gives a measure of the speed of productivity progress that are under reach and therefore the speed of economic growth and the level of prosperity. there are also other illustrations of this opportunity cost of being less flexible : the lack of resilience in periods of shocks and crises. this is a powerful additional reason to call for structural reforms fostering flexibility : shocks and crises are to be expected periodically to the extent that they might be the counterparts of the extraordinary chances and opportunities we are presently experiencing at a global level. thank you very much for your attention. see a. rzonca and p. cizkowicz ( 2005 ) ‘ non - keynesian effects of fiscal contraction in new member states ’, ecb working paper no. 519, and also a. fatas, j. von hagen, a. hughes hallett, r. strauch and a. sibert ( 2003 ) ‘ stability and growth in europe : towards a better pact ’. london : cepr / zei, monitoring