csf ) program. this enabled cooperatives, without sufficient collateral, to access bank loans on the strength of a credit guarantee. the program was institutionalized through the passage of republic act no. 10744 also known as the “ credit surety fund cooperative act of 2015. ” this should further enhance msmes ’ access to credit. parallel to this, the bsp strengthened credit risk management guidelines for banks. this emphasizes cash flows and the “ ability to pay ” of a borrower in determining creditworthiness. through this regulation, the bsp is signalling that collaterals should play a secondary role in credit decisions. the same regulation exempts start - up enterprises from submitting documents evidencing financial capacity and business plans ; these documents are usually required from regular borrowers in the first three years of their banking relationship. moreover, to help channel funds to the agricultural and fisheries sector, the bsp approved the agricultural value chain financing ( vcf ) framework. by encouraging linkages among various players in an agricultural value chain, the credit risk of participating farmers can be reduced and thereby facilitate their access to credit. a study is now being conducted to expand this framework to cover the msme value chain. in particular, we are looking into potential regulatory incentives to further encourage msme financing. ladies and gentlemen. all these are being laid down, so that thrift banks can help meet the financing needs of msmes and the agriculture sector, in support of countryside development. this could be for investments, for working capital and for business expansion. 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches expanding physical and virtual reach on the issue of reach. currently, of the 1, 634 cities / municipalities in the country, 35. 6 percent are still considered unbanked. 8 establishing bank branches in less urbanized areas remains a challenge due to generally low population density, geographic inaccessibility, and prevailing socio - economic situations. these barriers pose a huge challenge to financial access. this is the reason why the bsp has set its sights on digital innovation as the primary catalyst to reaching greater scale. part of these initiatives is the approval by the bsp of the setting up of micro - banking offices ( mbos ), which as you know are low - cost banking infrastructure that can be established where it is not feasible to set up a regular branch. we have also put out regulations on e - money and mobile banking. recently, the bsp issued regulations allowing banks to use third party cash agents

with laws and regulations. rather, good governance must frame and ground our intent so that our actions, initiatives and policies add value. good governance results in breakthroughs in the effective delivery of our mandates of maintaining price stability, financial stability and an efficient and safe payments system. good governance and breakthroughs for the philippine economy the bsp ’ s commitment to its primary mandate of price stability has brought about a balanced and sustainable growth of the economy. through the years, this required a delicate and courageous balancing act demanding the neutrality of monetary policy — without favoring any sector over another1. it required and requires the exercise of an independence that can only be achieved by a commitment to good governance. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches through the years in the exercise of this delicate balancing act — together with the country ’ s economic managers, we have achieved 77 quarters of uninterrupted economic growth since the asian financial crisis. our six - year consecutive growth of above 6 percent makes the philippines one of the fastest growing investment - grade economies in the world. this growth streak is projected to continue for the medium term despite challenges in the global and domestic economic landscape. this growth assumption is feasible due to the confluence of various factors : first, the current progress has broader support. while traditionally, the services sector has mainly pushed growth, the industry sector is emerging as a reliable source of growth, anchored on the manufacturing sub - sector ’ s renaissance. on the expenditure side, consumer spending is a key growth engine. this is aided by the improving employment climate, pegged at 94. 7 percent of the labor force as of the first quarter of 2018. public spending is likewise rising on the government ’ s increased delivery of social services. second, our young population places us in a demographic sweet spot that enables higher productivity as a large percentage of our young population joins the labor force. lastly, our sound macroeconomic fundamentals and growth prospects continue to attract foreign investments. record foreign direct investments – usd 8 billion and usd 10 billion – entered the country in 2016 and 2017, respectively. domestic liquidity continues to expand, in line with the bsp ’ s outlook for inflation and economic activity. such expansion is driven by lending to key production sectors adding further navigational mileage to the philippine growth story. our external position remains manageable and we have sufficient liquidity buffers against global headwinds. we note that the country ’ s balance of payments position has been posting deficits since 2016 on account of strong