captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever. ” under the capable leadership of our past governors, we have travelled far and have reached new points of opportunity. as captain now of our navigating team, i am confident in the course we have charted under “ continuity plus plus. ” i put my trust in the bsp crew, which has proven itself time and time again to be capable and skilled. we may be going through some strong headwinds today. but we stand undaunted. for bsp, it ’ s a matter of careful navigation and timely action. the economic ship itself is fundamentally solid and sturdy. we ’ ll get to better weather soon enough and sail on to destination. as i close, i recall my mission as head of team bsp. it is not only to deliver on our mandates today. rather, it is to build capabilities to address challenges and develop skills needed to conduct our mission given likely scenarios …. ready to respond where it matters … when it matters. this is the rationale for the bold organizational changes we have embraced thus far. these changes are meant to make the institution and its key officers more agile and resilient, 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches ready too – as individuals and as an organization – to navigate the future. let me recognize the crew : dg diwa guinigundo and the monetary and economics sector ( mes ) dg chuchi fonacier and the financial supervision sector ( fss ) dg cyd amador and the corporate services sector ( css ) ag dahlia luna and the currency management sector ( cms ) not to forget the offices directly working with me and of course the monetary board : carlos g. dominguez iii felipe m. medalla juan de zuniga, jr. peter b. favila antonio s. abacan, jr. v. bruce j. tolentino today, as always, we ready ourselves for more challenges ahead, taking stock of two - and - a - half decades ’ worth of lessons and experiences. maraming salamat team bsp. happy 25th anniversary to us all! mabuhay ang bsp! mabuhay ang bansang pilipinas! 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches

was a product of lessons learned the hard way. perhaps this audience may not remember why there was a need to establish and organize what is now known as the bangko sentral ng pilipinas. bsp. of our 5, 322 work - force today, it is a fact that 84 % have been here less than 25 years. many of you are likely unfamiliar with the central bank of the philippines ( cbp ), an entity separate and distinct from the bsp, and the events that led to its dissolution. the dissolution of the cbp and the establishment of the bsp and a separate legal entity called the cb – board of liquidators ( cb - bol ) were premised on the urgent need for an independent central monetary authority … financially strong, enjoying fiscal autonomy, and free from political influence. this independence is constitutionally enshrined. for the last 25 years, we, the bsp, have proudly anchored ourselves on this independence. we protect and uphold its demand for responsibility and accountability. let me recall some key accomplishments … 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches in response to the asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, the bsp pursued structural reforms that changed and improved the conduct of monetary policy and financial supervision. in 2002, to better attain price stability objectives, the bsp formally adopted the inflation - targeting ( it ) framework. since then, we have established a solid track record for hitting our inflation targets and for being transparent on how we conduct monetary policy. in 2016, we established the interest rate corridor ( irc ) system to enhance monetary policy transmission and reinforce the development of the domestic financial market. this year, we have commenced the gradual phase - down of ultra - high reserve requirements to promote the efficiency of monetary policy. amid changes in financial market conditions and increasing sophistication of financial services, we recognized a growing need for financial regulations to adapt, or else risk irrelevance. this is just one of the lessons from going through two episodes of financial crises over the past two decades — financial supervision must be proactive instead of reactive. we have thus shifted to a more comprehensive, risk - based approach to banking supervision. this has significantly improved the safety and soundness of individual banks and promoted early identification and effective mitigation of system - wide financial risks. in december 2002, the bsp shifted to a real - time gross settlement ( rtgs ) system. this made payments and settlements more efficient. today, we have phil