the bsp has adopted various disclosure and reporting mechanisms which you are familiar with. these mechanisms are intended to help the public understand what the bsp is doing and the reasons for its monetary policy actions. for instance, we have the : 1 ) press statement after the meeting of the monetary board on bsp ’ s monetary policy stance ; 2 ) highlights of the monetary board discussion which is published in our website after a lag of six weeks ; and 3 ) quarterly inflation report and the related media briefing. as a bonus, you also get a monthly dose of our inflation forecast relative to our annual target. we also hold public discussions to increase public understanding and ownership of the monetary policy process. the public information campaign in various locations around the country has helped increase the public ’ s familiarity with inflation targeting and monetary policy in general. the bsp ’ s communication approach has been aimed at the very broadest audience possible, with the policy stance articulated in layman ’ s terms as much as possible. this approach has generated positive feedback from various quarters and served bsp in good stead. the role of economic journalists in assessing our performance in the communications front, i believe we are making good progress and headed in the right direction. we are well aware that earning the people ’ s trust in the credibility of the bsp remains an ongoing challenge. we know that the familiarity of the general public with the bsp and its functions still needs to be further enhanced. in this regard, economic journalists have a very important role to play. along with other forms of media, you have the responsibility of informing the public about the bsp ’ s monetary and banking policies. in the process you contribute to constructive public dialogue on such policies and not simply noise. the central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information that they need to function in a free society. to achieve this, we conduct regular briefings for you and other members of the press on economic concepts and issues. we hope that you will continue to help us convey to the public the bsp ’ s policies and decisions in a clear, accurate and balanced manner. malaki po ang inyong naitutulong sa pagpapalaganap ng mga layunin namin sa bangko sentral. naniniwala po ako, na dahil sa inyong tulong, mas mabilis na nagiging malinaw sa ating mga mamayan ang mga polisiya ng bang

transparency and communication ”. transparency broadly relates to the openness of a central bank in making explicit its monetary policy decisions and explaining the reasoning behind them. from a strategic perspective, it also encompasses clear communication of the longer - run objectives and strategy of monetary policy. through your insightful reporting, you actually help us operationalize our communication policy at the bsp. in the past, there has been a general view that central banks tended to operate with considerable secrecy and mystery. however, over the past decade or so, most central banks have moved towards increased transparency and greater communication in the conduct of monetary policy. a brief look at the developments in financial markets and the conduct of central banking in recent decades will show that this trend developed partly out of necessity. what are these developments? first, it has become increasingly clear over the last few decades that central banks need to have a considerable degree of independence to ensure consistency in the implementation of monetary policy over time. but along with a high degree of independence, central banks are required to be transparent to establish accountability. in effect, without transparency, nobody knows what an unelected bunch of central bankers do or commit to do. there is no basis for assessing their performance and accountability. as a parenthetical remark, let me say here, this principle of independence requiring transparency, leading to accountability, further leading to performance and commitment works well even in other areas, including the area of politics. second, financial markets have increasingly become globally interconnected such that monetary policy, whether good or bad, can be rapidly transmitted and thereby, impact on the behavior of market participants. it then becomes imperative for central banks to effectively communicate their actions to allow financial markets to figure out policy decisions. this is good for business and macroeconomic planning and promotes general stability. finally, inflation targeting, our monetary policy framework, is forward - looking, and the only way to establish accountability is to be transparent about the commitment to promote price stability. central banks, however, did not embrace transparency ( and necessarily communication ) only because they were forced to do so. increased transparency and greater communication have their benefits. it is in a central bank ’ s own interest to be transparent in its monetary policy actions. clearly communicating the level of price stability and the strategies to achieve it …. help to anchor the inflation expectations of the business sector and the public in general. what is the practice of the bsp in terms of transparency and external communication? in the past four years of the inflation targeting framework,