2020. imports made some headway, with the year - on - year contraction slowing down from 65. 3 percent in april to 22. 6 percent in august. similarly, the year - on - year decline in exports eased to 18. 6 percent in august from 49. 9 percent in april. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches as of end - august, the gross international reserves stood at a hefty usd100. 5 billion, the highest ever in philippine history. overseas filipino remittances rebounded, settling at usd19. 3 billion as of end - august 2020, much better than originally forecasted. the philippine also banking system entered the crisis with strong fundamentals and sound risk governance. during the first eight months of 2020, banks managed to report sustained growth in assets, loans and deposits. total bank assets stood at p18. 6 trillion as of end august funded by sustained growth in deposits. the total loan portfolio of banks stood at p10. 7 trillion, with a growth rate of 4. 4 percent ( yoy ) in august. the quality of the loan portfolio remained satisfactory at 2. 8 percent as of end - august 2020. meanwhile, banks remain profitable posting p85. 8 billion in net income as of end - june 2020. bank capital and liquidity buffers also continue to be sufficient. banks remained well - capitalized with capital adequacy ratio of 15. 3 percent on solo basis as of end - march 2020. the bank ’ s capital was also made up of the highest quality of capital, with a common equity tier 1 ratio of 14. 7 percent. banks ’ liquidity coverage ratio of 171. 4 percent remained stable and above the regulatory minimum of 100 percent as of end - march 2020. meanwhile, the net stable funding ratio of 129. 1 percent indicates availability of stable funding to support bank operations. the bsp ’ s roadmap to recovery consists of a suite of policies which fall under two categories based on their intended objective. at the height of the lockdown period, the bsp moved to cushion the immediate impact of the covid - 19 on households, businesses, and financial institutions by activating its short - term crisis response plan. the second phase of our roadmap includes interventions meant to support recovery. the bsp ’ s short - term crisis response plan is a long list of regulatory relief measures which were adopted to assist financial institutions carry on with their operations and provide financial services to their clients

##ilience of our economy during the global financial crisis. far be it for me to trumpet this, but let us never forget that this happy state of affairs is the result of the strong regulatory and supervisory framework put in place by the bank of mauritius. let me say a word about our relations with kenya. last year, i was in nairobi to sign a memorandum of understanding with governor ndung ’ u of the central bank of kenya to enhance mutual co - operation in the supervision of our financial institutions. it is a little - known fact that our relations with kenya in the financial sphere go back to preindependence days. the kenya - based jubilee insurance invested then in an operation in mauritius, which is still present today. more recently, i & m bank of kenya joined forces with a mauritian conglomerate, with diversified interests in agriculture, hotels, tourism and manufacturing to take over a local bank. in the other direction, another large mauritian multinational conglomerate, involved in diverse activities ranging from insurance and leasing to banking and distribution, invested as a minority partner in one of the rapidly - growing kenyan banks, equity bank. the same conglomerate ended the year with another joint venture in kenya, this time in the furniture retail business. so kenya and mauritius are living examples of increased south - south cooperation and south - south investment, which mean more fdi flows among the southern countries. it seems that the wish i had expressed at the signing ceremony with my kenyan counterpart that the relations between mauritius and kenya tighten further, is fast being fulfilled. conclusion let me now conclude. this financing and investment package that we are celebrating this evening has allowed us to tick so many boxes on the long to - do list on our financial sector bis central bankers ’ speeches development agenda. we are slowly but surely moving forward. the road ahead is long, bumpy, and certainly not risk - free. but i have no doubt that the notes issue by omnicane will prove to be a milestone in this long journey. it would be remiss of me to conclude without giving some good marks to standard bank for taking the lead in this initiative. since the bank set up shop here in 2001, its business has expanded significantly. during the last five years, the bank ’ s total assets have increased three - fold. it now ranks 6th in terms of total assets of the banking sector. the bank ’ s previous ceo, chris clarkson, was constantly fighting for financial deepening and the development of the domestic debt