on 30 october 2018 at the manila a & b, makati shangri - la, makati city page 1 of 3 this is the goal. the significance of today ’ s event is that... it is a bold step towards this goal. today ’ s moa signing between and among initial members of the php - rmb trading market is consistent with the bsp ’ s vision of allowing fx market participants to be involved in the rule - making process to enhance governance and transparency in the fx market. it promotes a level playing field, where participants multilaterally bind themselves to abide by their mutually - agreed upon fx market rules, as well as comply with the applicable laws and bsp regulations. ultimately, this will uphold fairness and integrity in the local fx market. why establish a php - rmb market? the development of a local renminbi ( rmb ) trading market in the philippines is timely and deserves particular attention. [UNK] china is the country ’ s top bilateral trading partner. total trade is worth usd 14. 1 billion or 16. 6 percent of total trade as of end - june 2018. development of a philippine rmb trading market facilitates greater use of the rmb as a settlement currency, resulting in payment efficiency and less costs for philippine exporters and importers. [UNK] the rmb has been included in the international monetary fund ( imf ) special drawing rights ( sdr ) basket as a fifth currency, along with the u. s. dollar, the euro, the japanese yen and the british pound. hence, the rmb has become one of the main freely usable currencies of imf members like the philippines. [UNK] the rmb is now one of the most actively traded emerging market currencies overtaking the swedish krona ( sek ), the hong kong dollar ( hkd ), the swiss franc ( chf ), and the australian dollar ( aud ) as most used currency for global payments. at present, the philippine peso and rmb are priced against the us dollar as an intermediate peg. this subjects them to conversion and other friction costs. by establishing the php - rmb trading market, the philippine peso can be directly priced against the rmb. initial participating bank members can streamline their currency conversion costs via a fair, transparent, and resilient domestic fx trading platform. morever, banks can now manage their rmb liquidity requirements and improve services with rmb deposits dedicated to

##aid, re - priced, and refinanced at higher rates. while financial market interventions are highlighted in this report, the continuing value of sustaining our economic momentum is also emphasized. in the 2017 fsr, there are discussions on the asean integration and on the advent of financial technology applications. the fscc sees a strong upside in these initiatives. discussion of these topics contextualizes our shared goal to accrue benefits derived from them while at the same time, remaining vigilant and prepared to intervene should systemic risks develop. finally, the fsr also explores data gaps and other areas of policy interest. better data is essential as empirical basis for our actions is required. however, data gathering and analysis are recurring challenges in the field of financial stability. thus, a strong emphasis is placed on this work to support and address other policy issues along the way. our technical team put considerable effort in completing the 2017 fsr. we expect that future issues will be released in the first trimester of every year. we also expect more engagement 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches from the public, market players and the media, not just to highlight future content but to raise appreciation for financial stability issues through a concerted communication plan. we have much to look forward to. thank you again for joining us today and good afternoon. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches