! just to be sure, let me ask you : nag - level up na ba tayo? tama! in other words, ladies and gentlemen, we at the bsp remain faithful to the continuous improvement process. this is as it should be. as a wise person once said, the path to excellence has no finish line. the moment we become complacent the moment we stop trying to improve ourselves is the moment when we start deteriorating. as the institution mandated to provide stability to our economy through appropriate monetary and banking policies, we at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas have the responsibility to make sure we render excellent work, at all times. this means we have to be prepared to work well in all types of operating environment in good times and in bad. we have to retool and reinvent the way we do things as we work in a constantly changing and challenging surroundings. in this connection, let us acknowledge the members of the monetary board. they have been supportive of our continuing efforts to enhance employee performance through various incentives and employee development programs. palakpakan po natin sila. this is the rationale that underpins our awards theme : “ embracing change, empowering people. ” and so ladies and gentlemen, let us once again commit to work together to provide excellent service to our country and our people. let this be our unifying goal! bspers, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat! mabuhay ang bangko sentral! mabuhay ang pilipinas!

as the country transitions from one administration to another - and this will take place on july 1st - the bangko sentral ng pilipinas will continue to fulfill its mandate of ensuring sound macroeconomic management. on the whole, there are clear signs that the new administration will continue the key reforms and programs of the outgoing administration. as the economy recovers, the central bank recognizes the need to scale back its extraordinary measures. the timing and conditions of the bsp ’ s exit strategy will continue to be guided by the inflation and growth outlook over the medium term, the state of public health, and domestic and global risks to the economy. earlier, the bsp provided provisional advances to the national government of p540 billion – or approximately usd10. 3 billion - in 2020 and 2021. it was down to p300 billion as of january 2022. and to date, the national government has fully paid the central bank ’ s advances to the national government. unwinding the extraordinary measures was one of the messages highlighted during the imf - word bank spring meetings held last april. balancing the need to safeguard economic recovery and controlling inflation would be a key challenge for policymakers going forward. the balancing act requires a well - planned, well - calibrated, and well - communicated exit strategy to avoid causing substantial market volatility, reduce potential spillovers, and continue the recovery momentum. for the philippines, economic recovery came sooner than expected. the economy grew by 8. 3 percent in the first quarter of this year. we expect the economy to grow much faster in q2, making the growth target for this year of 7. 0 - 8. 0 percent doable. moreover, employment is nearing its pre - pandemic rate. in response to these developments, we have started the normalization process. we recently raised the policy rate by 25 basis points to 2. 25 percent last may 19. for the philippines, economic recovery came sooner than expected. the economy grew by 8. 3 percent in the first quarter of this year. we expect the economy to grow much faster in q2, making the growth target for this year of 7. 0 - 8. 0 percent doable. moreover, employment is nearing its pre - pandemic rate. in response to these developments, we have started the normalization process. we recently raised the policy rate by 25 basis points to 2. 25 percent last may 19. the government ’ s fiscal space allowed it to spend massively