benjamin e diokno : the philippines beyond survival - becoming an economic outperformer post - pandemic speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the general membership meeting bmap, 26 october 2020. * * * mr. miguel angelo villa - real, current president of the bank marketing association of the philippines ( bmap ), directors and officers of the bmap, distinguished colleagues from the banking industry, fellow speakers, guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning to all of you! my presentation is divided into three parts. first, i will discuss philippine macroeconomic updates. second, i will talk about how the country ’ s banking sector is faring. and third, i will share insights on where we see the domestic economy is headed post pandemic. first, on macroeconomic updates. at this point, i can report that the worst is over. while we ’ re not out of the woods yet, there has been progress as the economy gradually opens up from the strict lockdown in march to june to less stringent quarantine measures. we ’ re learning to live with the virus. now, we ’ re at an inflection point. for instance : the purchasing managers ’ index ( pmi ) moved past the growth threshold of 50, settling at 50. 1 in september. foreign direct investment ( fdi ) net inflows likewise sustained its uptrend in july 2020 ( latest data ), registering an increase of 35. 2 percent year - on - year to us $ 797 million. the unemployment rate improved from a record high of 17. 7 percent in april — which was the height of the lockdown — to 10 percent in july. contraction of imports slowed down from 65. 3 percent in april to 22. 6 percent in august. and, the decline in exports eased from 49. 9 percent in april to 18. 6 percent over the same period. major indicators suggest that financial markets are responding well to our policy responses. yesterday, the psei reached 6, 941. 19. the strength of the philippine peso remains market - driven and supported by sound macroeconomic fundamentals. the peso opened at p48. 40 / us $ 1 today. the peso is the strongest currency in asia. the peso ’ s strength was supported by positive market view given the country ’ s

take for the succeeding chapters. capital market development : the overarching objective ladies and gentlemen, while we have already covered much ground, there is still much more that needs to be done. in the end though, all our actions towards protecting minority shareholders nurture a culture of cooperation and symbiotic partnership among stakeholders. in turn, all that will eventually converge to the development of our capital market. this is explicit in sharephil ’ s vision and it remains one of the country ’ s overarching priorities. but, if we look inwards objectively, it will become clear that there remain key challenges ahead of us as we reach for the goal of a more developed capital market. capital market actions require “ big ” changes whose ramifications are even “ bigger ” and more widespread. the “ big change ” here is that we are looking out for those who participate in this market but who will otherwise not have the collective position to instigate needed corporate reforms. this is about molding the corporate culture so that it is not about the majority versus the minority, but one of collective action on what needs to be done. “ faith to the investor ”. this is your core value. this is what makes sharephil a market mover – one who is willing to work with others while at the same time be passionate in pursuing and enacting change when and where needed. thank you very much and good afternoon. bis central bankers ’ speeches