a growing economy is expected to generate employment, foster higher collection of premiums and enhance the growth potential of the domestic pension system. at the same time, economic growth reflects the inputs of stakeholders – both labor and capital – that allow such growth to materialize. but growth alone – as i have been suggesting – cannot be the only factor. if you review the recent rankings of the melbourne mercer global pension index, singapore is the only asian economy that ranks within the top 10 ( ie, ranked 10th in 2014 ). china, indonesia, japan, south korea and india have the same qualitative result and are ranked 21st to 25th. singapore ’ s score – which is better than that of the us, germany and france – falls under the category that describes a “ sound structure with many good features but has many areas for improvement ”. on the other hand, the five other asian jurisdictions i cited are categorized as having “ some desirable features but also has major weaknesses ”. what this tells me is that we have a lot of things that we can work on. but we also have our peers as guide and reference. we can learn from them and i am sure that we can make such a journey forward. final thoughts ladies and gentlemen, i have repeatedly said this morning that there are synergies between banks, trust entities and pension funds. there is likewise that symbiotic relationship between different facets of the financial market and the real economy. these different means of interconnectedness will ultimately converge upon our financial consumers. a more inclusive financial market allows each individual to become a saver and a responsive financial market nurtures individual savers to become retail investors. as the economy grows, it is the inclusiveness of such growth that provides opportunities that loop back to our consumers, first as economic agents and then ultimately as financial consumers. it is only with these interconnected parts that a saver can properly prepare for the uncertainties of the future. and while we have shown that we can grow despite global shocks and with a growth path that portends of quality and inclusiveness, we also know that there is much more that needs to be done. perhaps it is a dream. that dream is for the philippine pension system to rank high up in the mercer index while sustaining the current momentum on financial inclusion and achieving a more inclusive economic growth. it may sound like a dream but much like the philippines achieving sovereign investment rating, dreams are meant to be pursued, collectively and in an organized manner. i trust

billion per year and grows at double - digit growth rates. our desire to develop a more inclusive financial system that caters to all sectors of society has also led us to yet another major advocacy – that of promoting financial learning down to the grass roots level. if you recall, our tulong barya para sa eskuwela program was successful because we had the banking sector with us as partners led by the chamber of thrift banks, rural bankers association of the philippines, the bankers association of the philippines, as well as the philippine retailers association particularly sm and robinsons, absp - cbn and gma7 among others. many of you are here and we take this opportunity to thank you again. i also wish to invite you to support this program which is being launched in partnership with the department of education. we also thank our partner - banks who share our goal of teaching our 12 million public elementary students regular lessons on saving and money management. our screen is now flashing the banks who are now on board with us for the integration of financial lessons in the elementary curriculum. we are keeping the doors open for other banks and institutions to support this breakthrough project. for your information, the bangko sentral has a comprehensive financial education program that covers schoolchildren to college students to adults, including overseas workers and their dependents. we are also setting up economic & financial literacy centers in bangko sentral ’ s regional offices and branches across the country because we believe that education is a powerful empowering means for developing responsible and productive citizens. in this connection, we are also pleased to announce that the bangko sentral is expanding its scholarship program to include deserving students in urban centers and in the provinces for courses associated with economics and banking. ladies and gentlemen. the last 15 years has provided us the opportunity for introspection and to re - invent ourselves as well as our institution for the challenges that lie ahead. you who are here tonight have been with us in our journey. we thank you for this. it is in this spirit that the monetary board approved the scrapping of certain fees of the bangko sentral ’ s real time gross settlement system – the philpass. you may get more details about this from deputy governor andy suratos who is here with us. i also take this opportunity to remind you that we at the bangko sentral stand ready to continue our dialogue with you so that we can identify more areas of concern, formulate solutions, and thereby move forward together