also aims to facilitate recovery and preserve the country ’ s economic growth. as in any measure providing support using public funds, prudence has to be observed to rein in excessive moral hazards that may arise. human behavior is expected to change with physical distancing as the new norm. people are expected to prefer using electronic payment and financial services to face - to - face and over - thecounter transactions. to expand the reach of digital transactions, we need to increase contactless payment facilities, such as paymaya and gcash. their use can be expanded to include wet markets, retail stores, and public utility vehicles ( jeep, taxis, tricycle, bus ). we need to quicken the adoption of the national qr code standard ( “ qr ph ” ) to enable interoperable payments for person - to - person ( p2p ) and person - to - merchant ( p2m ) transactions. the scale of the recently launched egov pay facility can be expanded to enable ordinary citizens to digitally pay government taxes, fees, and charges. the speedy implementation of the national id system will enable inclusive and innovative digital finance and ensure reliable database for the design and impact assessment of policies, including those for taxation and social support purposes. with the increased usage of non - bank channels to send and receive money, the bsp has been improving channels of remittances with the approval of new technologies in remittance transfers ( mobile phones, internet, cash cards ). admittedly, insufficient it infrastructure leading to the slow internet connection, data privacy and cybersecurity risks, and lack of knowledge on new technologies may pose challenges in the implementation of financial digital services. promoting financial literacy and ensuring good market conduct are likewise important to deepen the public ’ s trust in digital financial services. moving forward, more measures should be taken to reduce external vulnerabilities. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches congress, meanwhile, must provide additional measures to reduce the costs of doing business in the philippines ; streamline the investment process ; and increase business confidence by improving the business climate, fostering competition, and boosting productivity growth via the corporate recovery and tax incentives for enterprises act ( create ) and amendments to the public services act. former us president john f. kennedy once said, “ the chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘ crisis. ’ one brush stroke stands for danger ; the other for opportunity. in a crisis, be aware of the danger

on the more specific issue of brexit, the direct exposure of the philippines to the uk is relatively limited. the bigger concern, however, is whether the other eu economies will follow the uk ’ s lead ; given that our trade exposure to the eu is larger at around 12pct. as for the trump election, we will need to see how his campaign rhetoric translates to actual policy. our eyes and ears are tuned to january 20, when he actually takes over the white house. the second risk comes from the us fed ’ s future policy rate actions. at its meeting in december 2016, when the fed raised its target rate for the first time for the year, the fed indicated that it would raise rates three more times in 2017. if the fed veers from this, volatility in both the global and domestic fx and fixed income markets could rise. a steeper than expected hike in us interest rates could lead to a faster rise in domestic commercial and government securities interest rates also, as well as stronger depreciation pressures on eme currencies, including the peso. such price movements may adversely affect the balance sheets of domestic corporates and banks, especially of those that have fx and floating - interest rate obligations. this adverse result would be magnified if the markets panic, overreact, and thus amplify the initial increases in interest rates and weakness of the peso. moreover, a tightening in domestic financial market conditions could also dampen domestic credit activities in the near - term. however, if the reason for fed tightness is that the underlying us economic growth has become stronger, then that may offset some of the near - term negative impact of the fed tightening and lead to over - all support for global growth in the medium - term. on the other hand, if the fed turns dovish ( i. e., fewer or no further hikes in 2017 ), then that could encourage “ risk on ” market behavior, stall domestic interest rate increases and dampen depreciation pressures in emerging markets. but such result is unlikely, as trumponomics, which is reported to focus on increased fiscal spending, is widely expected to be inflationary. third. in addition to these external risks, we also have risks emanating from the domestic front such as political noise and adverse weather disturbances. moreover, while the administration has committed to ramp infrastructure spending, they could be forced to cut back on this, should 2 / 4 bis central bankers '