path, i am confident we can look to sunny skies but that is not to say that it will always be sunny for i see patches of clouds nearby. i see potential financial disturbances from the yet unfolding subprime mortgage problem in the us, the now - growing consensus for a deeper - than - first - expected slowdown in the us, as well as the elevated and more volatile oil and commodity prices. these risks, although essentially out of our control, are real and could threaten our outlook. we therefore need to build on what we have so far achieved. we will continue to sharpen our tools for implementing sound monetary policy. we will also continue to reinforce sound structural reforms in the banking system to ensure its overall safety and efficiency as well as its adaptability and inclusiveness, as evidenced by our substantial strides in propagating sustainable microfinance in increasingly innovative forms. moreover, with the infrastructure and instruments of the domestic capital market now mostly in place, our challenge is to make the capital market a truly potent alternative source of funding and investments for domestic industry. we are already seeing growing evidence of this. and in support of the financial reform agenda, we will continue to cooperate with institutions concerned on the passage of key legislations such as the amendment of the bsp charter, the pera bill, and the cisa. i believe we all agree that the creation of a comprehensive and reliable credit information system is key to unlocking credit flows at more affordable rates that will benefit the micro, small and medium enterprises that dominate our economy and employ most of our people. one crucial challenge that we face, and for which i earnestly request your support, is to help ensure that we improve the economy ’ s absorptive capacity – either through improving access to credit, by providing better risk management products and tools that would allow for project financing to flourish and, ladies and gentlemen by actually extending credit! this is the way, i believe, that the problem of plenty, which you have time and again heard me say, would no longer be a problem of plenty, but be a pot of plenty for the many. indeed, our responsibility to the community extends beyond ensuring that the macroeconomy is stable, and that the banking community is sound. in this context, we believe that part of our role is to enhance financial literacy and education as well. hence, we have partners and collaborators beyond the circle of banks and financial institutions. our financial education program targets our key stakeholders, including overseas

did to our call for the crafting of a consumer code in the philippines. the bsp attributes to bmap ’ s strong political will the expedient launching of the “ service code for consumer banking in the philippines ” in october 2005. ( only 14 months after bsp challenged the industry to make one for the philippines ). the fsf, through its reporting, information exchange and dissemination committee ( ried ), has also moved to supplement its current memorandum of agreement ( moa ) covering bilateral information exchange among fsf members. the amendments will allow the establishment of an overall framework for the exchange of relevant reports and / or data which in turn shall facilitate the development of comprehensive statistics on the financial system. to address cross - border supervisory issues, we have already established contacts with our foreign counterparts in ten ( 10 ) countries where philippine banks also operate. two of them, the china banking regulatory commission and the nederlandsche bank, have already made commitments for the exchange of information on areas of common interest as supervisory authorities. meanwhile, we are confident that we shall be able to see the fruits of our negotiations for the adoption of a minimum set of ground rules for the exchange of similar information with the remaining eight foreign supervisors 1. a call for support bmap, together with the other captains of the banking industry, has undoubtedly made significant contributions towards the realization of many of our reform initiatives. however, we still have a plateful of them to complete. we believe that bmap remains strategically positioned to continue to enlist the support of industry primemovers in these endeavors. you have the power to promote synergy amid a mixture of divergent plans to achieve our shared vision for the banking industry and for our country. we look forward to another year of closely working with you. once again, congratulations to your officers! thank you very much. mabuhay tayong lahat. namely : monetary authority of singapore, hong kong monetary authority, germany ’ s federal financial supervisory authority ( ffsa ), taiwan ’ s financial supervisory commission, uk ’ s financial services authority, japan ’ s financial services agency, and the us federal reserve bank