the country has been increasingly led by banks, the risks to the liability side of microfinance institutions remain more manageable. banks, as deposit taking institutions, are less reliant on external sources of funds and therefore less vulnerable to any reversals in foreign capital flows and shifts in investor preferences as a result of the crisis. while the diversification and commercialization of sources of funding has been seen as a positive industry development, retail deposits remain significant as a stable core funding base. further, our microfinance institutions, especially banks with microfinance operations, have demonstrated the necessary commitment to institutional strengthening. more and more, we are seeing banks upgrading their risk management systems to be able to adequately and appropriately identify possible risks, such as credit and liquidity risk ; and how they will be managed. commitment to maintaining the quality of your microfinance loan portfolios has also been evident. i am happy to note that a culture of zero tolerance for delinquency and vigilance in monitoring of portfolio at risk is clearly evident among mabs banks. these are practices you must sustain, in good times and in bad. on the part of the bangko sentral, we will continue with our policy approach of enabling banks, particularly rural banks, to increase the scale and scope of their microfinance operations. • our regulations for microfinance have created the enabling environment for its practice to fully flourish within the banking sector. • we have also liberalized the branching regime, and we will continue to review this as conditions warrant. our branching regulations also provide particular incentives for microfinance - oriented banks such as the ability to branch out even in the restricted areas of metro manila as well as the ability to collect savings from microfinance clients through other banking offices. • the bsp has also been receptive to various product and technological innovations in banking services. • we have also allowed the outsourcing of some banking functions to help improve your operating efficiency. • rural banks now have more opportunities to provide a wider range of services and products to their clients such as electronic money, fcdus, and investments in atm networks. moving forward, i propose that we make these bright spots brighter. in this, we have our own roles to play. on the part of the bsp, we shall remain unrelenting in our commitment to strengthen the banking institutions through improvements in capital positions and enhanced capacities to manage risks. our commitment to broaden financial inclusion is undiminished ; in fact

s euro 2002 information campaign, on the current status of the campaign. this focused in particular on the creative concept of the mass media campaign, which will start in september 2001. a website dedicated to the euro 2002 information campaign has now been launched in all 11 official languages of the european community ( www. euro. ecb. int ). the website currently contains a section on the euro banknotes and coins. further sections will be added over the next two weeks to help specialist groups and the general public to prepare for the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins. these sections will be updated throughout the year. we are now at your disposal for questions.