##8 million, including p51 million contributed by the cooperatives and ngos. this translates to a total potential loan of p511 million at any one time. total loans booked under the program reached p53 million. these loans not only helped end - user borrowers finance the needs of their businesses but helped their immediate communities as well. loan applications amounting to p156 million are in various stages of processing and approval. given these numbers, it is safe to say that csfs have gained traction. for this, we thank our lgu partners, as well as our institutional partners that includes the land bank of the philippines, the development bank of the philippines and the industrial guarantee and loan fund. we also acknowledge iglf ’ s support for the training of contributing cooperatives on credit appraisal and monitoring, basic accounting, marketing, and credit risk management. the university of the philippines ’ institute of small scale industries has already conducted ten runs of these training courses which have benefited 243 cooperative and ngo members. nevertheless, we will be the first to say that csf is not perfect. in this imperfect world, there is always room for improvement. the key is to have all parties involved follow procedures faithfully, starting with those who will screen and evaluate the loan applications. in the case of albay, we see a perfect fit with csf. based on our monitoring, loans to deposit ratio in the entire bicol region remains low. for instance, while deposits have reached p53 billion in 2009, loans were at p14 billion. clearly, you have a loyal and growing base of depositors and yet your loans to deposit ratios are low. possibly, the guarantee provided by the credit surety fund for bank lending could well be the catalyst that will move lending forward here in bicol. with the dynamic leadership provided by governor salceda and other albay lgu officials, i am confident albay mayon csf will serve as a positive catalyst that will further accelerate the development of the bicol region. as reported earlier, bicol ’ s 2009 gdp already increased by an impressive rate of 8. 2 %, the highest among the 17 regions in the philippines. we can look forward to a repeat performance. with the csf in place, we hope albay ’ s msmes will develop at a more balanced and sustained pace. this should exert a positive influence on the continuing development of the bicol region. and so, once again, we welcome albay and

lowest since 2009. for 2015, therefore, we expect inflation would be well - within the target range. this should provide the bsp the flexibility to keep policy rates at low and stable levels in support of economic growth. on the exchange rate, another metric the bsp is always asked about, i can tell you that our policy remains the same. this means we will allow the exchange rate to be essentially determined by market forces. as i mentioned earlier, we expect some volatility in the market in the near - term because of the growing consensus for a strong us dollar. but as in previous episodes of volatility and bis central bankers ’ speeches portfolio outflows, there will be core investors who will remain invested in the philippines because of our positive growth prospects and sound fundamentals. during these periods of volatility, you can expect the bsp to maintain a presence in the forex market to keep the movements aligned with fundamentals and with those of our peers in the region. aside from working on monetary stability, the bsp will continue its banking reform agenda appropriate to our own operating environment. these reforms will impact on the way banks do business with you, but these are calibrated to enhance the protection of bank clients and to ensure the stability of the financial and the economic system as a whole. conclusion ladies and gentlemen of the rotary club of manila, whatever the philippines has achieved in the past years is a result of close coordination between the public sector and the private sector. as the monetary policymaker, the bsp will continue to promote an enabling environment for business and develop a more inclusive financial system that supports sustained and inclusive growth. you will be happy to know therefore that from 2009 to 2013, the philippines was consistently ranked as the best in the world in terms of the regulatory environment for microfinance. in 2014, the economist intelligence unit ( eiu ) named the philippines as the top country in east and south asia and the third in the world, with the most conducive environment for financial inclusion. but beyond these recognitions, what we value is the impact of our gains in improving the lives of millions of filipinos through financial inclusion, and particularly through microfinance. nevertheless, we are mindful that there are so many more that we need to reach out to. this is where successful professionals such as yourselves and organizations such as the rotary club of manila can help make a difference. the actual use of financial resources to create jobs and generate production for