amando m tetangco, jr : the crisis in perspective – is there really cause for alarm? speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the bank marketing association of the philippines ( bmap ) : banking and business forum, manila, 3 march 2009. * * * the officers and members of the bank marketing association of the philippines ( bmap ) led by president ferdie lachica, distinguished speakers, fellow bankers, our friends from the media, special guests, good morning! i congratulate the leadership of the bmap for taking the initiative to gather members of the financial community and the media to discuss the global financial crisis and its possible impact on the domestic front. indeed, we should welcome activities such as these which promote open exchange that lead to better understanding of critical issues. after all, we cannot move forward together.. if we are not on the same page and able to engage the cooperation of our stakeholders at this crucial point in time. in this year ’ s forum, bmap ’ s theme asks this non - trivial question : “ is there really cause for alarm? ” well, let me share some information that will help you respond to this question. among others, key economic and banking metrics indicate the following : • the domestic economy has remained resilient, posting a 4. 6 % growth last year. this year, the philippine economy is still expected to grow at a respectable range of 3. 7 % to 4. 4 %. that we are able to sustain growth under stressed global conditions with major economies undergoing contraction makes these figures particularly encouraging. • inflation continues to decline and is expected to further decelerate with the easing in the price of oil and other non - oil commodities in the world market. as of january 2009, inflation stood at 7. 1 % from 8 % in december 2008. • our currency remains competitive. even as the peso lost much of the gains of 2007 due to heightened risk aversion towards emerging markets, the peso ’ s fall was nevertheless in line with the movement of other currencies in the region which also lost ground against the us dollar. • the country ’ s external position remains favorable. as of end - january 2009, the balance of payments yielded a surplus of us $ 1. 7 billion while our gross international reserves stood at us $ 39. 2

##map to take the lead in making sure that appropriate systems are in place to address complaints with utmost urgency. to me, one yardstick for bmap ’ s success in this area is a decline in the number of complaints against banks that we receive at the bangko sentral. i look forward to stronger cooperation between us in this regard. i also count on bmap to continue supporting bangko sentral ’ s various initiatives on economic and financial education covering our 12 million schoolchildren, our youth, our overseas filipinos and their dependents, and the public in general. this includes “ tulong barya para sa eskwela ” and the integration of lessons in saving and money management in our public elementary school curriculum. one of our objectives is to make saving a regular habit and expand our deposit base to include children, the youth and unbanked adults. while our savings rate ( or gross savings as a percent of gnp ) has been on a steady uptrend – from 22. 7 in 2000 to 27. 9 as of 2007, we are behind other countries in the region. i ask the bmap members therefore to apply your marketing and communications skills to move this program forward. ladies and gentlemen. in good times and in bad, taking care of your clients and consciously growing your customer base are challenges bmap members face. this being the case, i believe there should be no cause for alarm if you have properly anticipated and planned for crisis, long before the onset of the global financial turmoil. remember noah? it wasn't raining when he built his ark. he hoped for the best, but prepared for the worst. as professionals in your field, i am confident bmap members are prepared to tackle new concerns emerging from the global crisis, individually and collectively. once again, congratulations to bmap for organizing this forum. mabuhay ang bmap! mabuhay ang pilipinas! maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.