benjamin e diokno : data - driven road to digital financial inclusion speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the transunion and fintech alliance webinar, 6 december 2021. * * * members of the fintech alliance of the philippines headed by chairman lito villanueva, transunion chief revenue officer jay tirona, fellow public servants, financial inclusion partners, and fintech innovators, good afternoon. it is my pleasure to welcome participants to this webinar as we continue to discuss valuable insights and best practices in financial inclusion. the fintech industry is a pioneer in using data - driven strategies that give rise to innovations and enhancements meaningful to the users of financial services – offering accessibility to financial channels, creating user - friendly platforms, and providing reasonable costs, to diverse market segments. financial regulators likewise utilize data in formulating supervisory and regulatory policies that are responsive to the needs of financial consumers and address the evolving complexities of financial products. for the bsp in particular, the pandemic has strengthened our resolve to promote broad and convenient access to welfare - enhancing financial services for all filipinos. a lot of work still lies ahead, but the momentum to achieve these goals is now stronger than ever. the bsp is ready to carry the work forward through 2021 and beyond. financial inclusion is multidimensional, but at its most basic level, it starts with account ownership. transaction accounts like bank accounts and e - money wallets enable individuals and households to save money ; make day - to - day payment transactions ; send or receive remittances ; and receive salary, benefits, or financial assistance from the government. in this regard, the bsp with its digital payments transformation roadmap aims to onboard 70 % of filipino adults to the formal financial system through a transaction account by 2023. it is important to recognize however that rather than being an end in itself, financial inclusion is a means to achieve broader aspirations. the regular and continuing use of an account in particular, allows individuals and small businesses to build a rich digital footprint that can unlock access to a wider range of welfare - enhancing financial services. today, digital technologies provide an opportunity to accelerate financial inclusion. it facilitates efficiencies that make it possible for financial service providers to serve the unbanked and underbanked. mobile phone and internet usage in the philippines

benjamin e diokno : philippines - on the road to economic recovery speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), to members of the tax management association of the philippines, 27 october 2020. * * * a pleasant good afternoon atty. duran and the members of the tax management association of the philippines. thank you for the opportunity to share the bsp ’ s programs aimed at stimulating business activity and help businesses recover from the covid - 19 crisis. we recognize that this engagement is critical because it serves as a platform to discuss the mutually reinforcing role of monetary, prudential, and fiscal policy in the achievement of our shared goal sustainable and inclusive growth. thus, it is my hope that this brief keynote will set the tone for discussions on the design of tmap ’ s plans of action in the coming months. my presentation for this afternoon will be organized as follows : first, i will provide an overview of our current economic and financial landscape. next, i will briefly describe the bsp ’ s covid - 19 crisis response plan. this will be followed by a discussion on some of the bsp ’ s key structural reform initiatives. finally, i will conclude with some thoughts on areas of policy convergence which would be useful for the task moving forward. according to the imf, all countries are facing a “ long ascent ” that is “ long, uneven, uncertain and prone to setbacks. ” the imf projects that the global economy will contract by – 4. 4 percent this year before bouncing back in 2021 and 2022. the philippines has not been spared. the philippines ’ gdp fell by 9. 0 percent in the first half of 2020 after 21 years of uninterrupted growth. but we expect the economy to bounce back next year. in fact, there are early signs of recovery. manufacturing indices have registered an uptick. the pmi improved from a low of 27. 1 in march to 50. 1 in september. the value and volume of production for the manufacturing sector are also showing signs of improvement. year - to - date inflation of 2. 5 percent remains manageable and within the target range of 2. 0 to 4. 0 percent for 2020. the government has maintained its fiscal prudence with a debt - to - gdp ratio below 50 percent. foreign direct investments grew to usd3. 8 billion as of end - july