amando m tetangco, jr : financial capability as a 21st century life skill speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( the central bank of the philippines ), at the citi - ft financial education summit, makati city, 5 december 2012. * * * mr. michael zink, head of asean and singapore citi country officer ; mr. sanjiv vohra, citi country officer for the philippines ; secretary imelda nicolas, chairperson, commission on filipino overseas ; ms. brandee mchale, chief operating officer, citi foundation ; mr. david pilling, financial times asia editor ; ms. kathy hurley, executive vice president, education alliances, pearson foundation ; distinguished resource persons ; experts and practitioners in financial education ; friends who have traveled from other countries ; my colleagues in the bsp ; ladies and gentlemen, good morning everyone! finally, this annual financial education summit is in the philippines. now on its 9th year, it continues to enjoy such high level of interest and support for its relevance to the times. congratulate and thank citi and ft and the other sponsors and organizers of this gathering. for starters, its forum theme “ financial capability as a 21st century life skill ” … is an outright declaration that financial capability is a must - have - skill. i agree with this statement. indeed, the ability to make sound financial choices and decisions is essential … to ensure one ’ s financial well - being. and yet, most people are sorely lacking in this necessary skill. the summit ’ s keynote session pushes the envelope further : it raises the social, economic and moral imperatives of bridging the financial capability gap. discussions are also bound to be thought - provoking on the topic “ the ultimate financial education challenges – impact, scale and sustainability. ” ladies and gentlemen. the organizers of this summit have brought together world - class finance education experts and advocates to tackle these important issues. the bangko sentral ng pilipinas is therefore pleased that it is a host partner in this financial education summit. for your information, the bsp was also co - host... in the last two days... of the asia and the pacific regional meeting on child and youth finance organized by the child and youth finance, international. and three months ago, the bsp co - hosted with the oecd in cebu the asian seminar on financial literacy and inclusion

salute the department of education for being our active partner in bringing financial education to millions of our schoolchildren. we also acknowledge the banks who help our youth develop the habit of saving and give lessons on personal finance to teachers and parents. so far, we have made significant strides in the development of the philippine microfinance sector that has liberated millions of entrepreneurial filipinos from poverty and transformed them into net savers in banks. in fact, our latest data indicate that for the first time consolidated bank deposits of microentrepreneurs at over p8 billion have now exceeded their total bank loans. i also thank all the industry groups, all companies – big and small, our partners from both public and private sectors for your support in bangko sentral ’ s advocacies that promote coin recirculation and clean banknotes, as well as protection against counterfeit money and financial scams. once again, ladies and gentlemen, we at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas thank and congratulate all of you for being our active partners in the pursuit of our mandate and in making lives better through better policies and programs. together, let us steer the economy toward balanced, sustained and inclusive growth. maraming salamat sa inyong lahat! mabuhay ang ating mahal na bansang pilipinas! bis central bankers ’ speeches