addition, money supply remains ample. even at double - digit growth rates, we do not see overheating in credit conditions, as credit continues to be channelled to key production sectors. more importantly, the intermediation of these funds is expected to remain safe and efficient, owing to our sound and stable banking system. key indicators continue to reflect solid asset growth and improving quality of loans. capitalization also remains strong and above prescribed domestic and international standards. on the external front, the country ’ s current account has been in surplus for 14 consecutive years, 4 due to the sustained increase in overseas filipinos ( ofs ) remittances, as well as business process outsourcing ( bpo ) revenues and tourism receipts. we saw a narrowing of the current account surplus in recent months. this trend may continue, as imports of capital goods are seen to further pick up. such importation, we note, is necessary to support the expansion of the economy in the medium term. steady foreign exchange ( fx ) inflows from of remittances and bpos, however, will continue to allow us to maintain adequate fx reserves. we expect our gross international reserves to continue to be more than sufficient to meet the country ’ s fx liquidity requirements. reaping dividends from growth to reiterate, our macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong. on the one hand, these give us enough buffers to ward off the challenges posed by a difficult external environment. on the other hand, how secure are we against homegrown challenges? political noise here as well as overseas is a manifestation that the benefits of growth may not have trickled down fairly to all sectors of society. the rise in populist sentiment globally suggests that inequality in society also poses a threat to prosperity. in essence, what we ’ re saying is that it is not enough for growth to be just fast and sustained. for growth to be truly meaningful, it must also be inclusive. we can take heart in knowing that the philippines has made noteworthy progress and intends to see more headway moving forward. for one, labor and employment conditions have shown marked improvements. the unemployment rate has declined steadily from 7. 4 percent in 2010 to 5. 5 percent in 2016. the government aims to reduce it further to between 3 and 5 percent by 2022 through its various social programs and sustained economic growth. poverty incidence and income inequality among filipinos have also been on an appreciable downtrend,

nestor a espenilla, jr : mindfulness and vigilance keynote speech by mr nestor a espenilla, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the money market association of the philippines, inc. ( mart ) mart first general assembly, makati city, 22 march 2018. * * * good evening everyone. i thank the officers and members of the money market association of the philippines, inc. ( mart ) led by mr. christopher salazar for the invitation to speak today about the current operating environment, the bsp ’ s monetary policy actions... our direction... and our mindful approach in the implementation of monetary, prudential and financial reforms. mindfulness. the concept of “ mindfulness ” has gained so much popularity. it is a buzz word that frequently crops up in online articles, magazines, newspapers, tv programs, podcasts and conversations. but what does it mean? does “ mindfulness ” have application in central banking and monetary policy formulation? i believe so. “ mindfulness ” is not a new idea. the concept is core to buddhism, traced as far back as the fifth century bc. a widely used definition is by dr. jon kabat - zinn of the university of massachusetts medical school. he defines mindfulness as “ paying attention in a particular way : on purpose, in the present moment and non - judgmentally. ” what is monetary policy ’ s “ present moment ”? monetary policy stance just this afternoon, in our latest monetary policy assessment, the bsp maintained its key policy rate steady at 3. 0 percent for the overnight borrowing or reverse repurchase ( rrp ) facility. corresponding rates on overnight and deposit facilities were also kept unchanged. our decision is based on our assessment that while recent inflation outturns show elevated path in 2018, latest baseline forecasts continue to show inflation remaining within the target in 2018 and moderating further in 2019. we also considered that prospects for domestic activity continue to be firm on the back of robust domestic demand, strong growth in credit and liquidity, and sustained recovery in global economic growth. as such, monetary policy action is not warranted at this time, at this present moment. vigilance tsong - kha - pa, a famous teacher of tibetan - buddhism, wrote in his great treatise on the stages of path to enlightenment, that mindfulness is a non - distracted focal