amando m tetangco, jr : the strength of retail – in a wider asean economy speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the chamber of thrift banks ( ctb ) annual convention, makati city, 19 march 2014. * * * every year, your industry comes together to exchange views on the prospects for the year ahead. with your theme this year “ thrift banks : preparing for 2015 asean integration ”, the thrift banking industry is recognizing a development that has quietly evolved through the years and will soon crystalize. asean integration – broadly through the asean financial integration framework or afif and more specifically through the asean banking integration framework or abif – will come to fruition in line with the asean 2020 vision that was enunciated way back in 2007. it is, in this sense, imminent and the chamber is being responsive by preparing for this eventuality. in fact, for this convention, the organizers have lined up experts to tackle different facets of integration. my role this morning is to describe the broad economic landscape, including the challenges and opportunities, that the thrift banking industry currently faces against the backdrop of asean integration. the chamber is being strategic in this way, for clearly, understanding one ’ s starting point and initial conditions is just as important as defining one ’ s final destination. the economy at large let me begin therefore with the economy at large. it is tempting to simply cite the array of indicators that show that the macro - economy is strong. in 2013, we again saw the convergence of high growth and stable prices as the country posted a real gross domestic product growth rate of 7. 2 percent amid an inflation of three percent. this is on top of the real gdp growth of 6. 8 percent and a 3. 2 percent inflation rate in 2012. we need to appreciate these numbers not just because they are better than the performance numbers that came out of 2011 ( which were 3. 6 % real gdp growth and 4. 6 % inflation rate ). instead, these are excellent numbers because of the calamities that befell us during the period. 1 on the external front, the balance of payments position was at usd5. 1 billion for 2013. and the gross international reserves at almost 12 months ’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services continues to provide ample cushion against external vulnerabilities

retail payment system is a policy and regulatory framework for the carrying out of retail payment activities through the bsp - supervised financial institutions. through the nrps, the bsp endeavors to create a safe, reliable, affordable, interoperable, and efficient retail payments system, while encouraging the use of electronic payments to enhance the speed, convenience, and affordability of financial transactions. the increasing importance of digital transactions was highlighted during the lockdown period. the volume and value of the combined transactions of pesonet and instapay during the lockdown surged, while the volume and value of check payments and atm withdrawals declined. the volume of instapay transactions from april to may grew by 57 percent while the volume of pesonet surged significantly by 325 percent. as of may 31 2020, pesonet has 58 participating institutions while instapay has 45. the number of participating institutions for both are expected to further increase in the coming years. 2 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches we would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners in the congress that crafted laws throughout the years that helped the bsp to better pursue its mandates and objectives. in 2019, several landmark legislations have been passed to strengthen the bsp ’ s capacity to perform its mandates. • republic act no. 11211, an act amending republic act no. 7653, otherwise known as the ‘ new central bank act ’, and for other purposes, was signed into law by president rodrigo duterte on 14 february 2020. this is the culmination of more than 20 years of legislative work to amend the bsp charter. • ra no. 11256, an act to strengthen the country ’ s gross international reserves, was approved by congress and signed by president duterte on march 29, 2019. the new law exempts from excise and income tax the sale to the bsp of gold sourced from small - scale mining activities. • ra no. 11439, or an act providing for the regulation and organization of islamic banks was signed by the president on august 22, 2019. • the bsp plays a supportive role in the promotion of inclusive economic and social development objectives of the government through its advocacy programs aimed at promoting financial inclusion. the national strategy for financial inclusion ( nsfi ) provides the national vision for financial inclusion and a platform for public and private sector coordination to ensure synergy of efforts in achieving shared objectives. meanwhile, the range of microfinance loans offered by