amando m tetangco, jr : rbap – sustaining reforms for an economically vibrant countryside speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the inaugural dinner for the newly elected rbap officers and board of directors, manila, 14 july 2009. * * * the leadership of the rural bankers association of the philippines ( rbap ) led by president omar andaya and immediate past president mitch gomez, the officers and members of rbap, good evening. i am delighted to be part of this inaugural dinner celebrating your new set officers at rbap. to me, this seamless transition in the association ’ s leadership is a strong indication that the rural banking sector will continue the many significant initiatives that have characterized the past year. united, your initiatives under rbap have kept the rural banking sector resilient in the midst of a particularly challenging environment. let us therefore give the rbap leadership a well - deserved round of applause! indeed, the past year was full of challenges, for the economy in general and for the rural banking sector in particular. and yet, latest available figures indicate that the rural banking sector continues to perform relatively well. it appears that our rural bankers have turned this period of challenges as an opportunity to further strengthen your institutions. thus, even with the series of bank closures affiliated with one group, total capitalization of the rural banking sector actually improved further from p24. 8 billion in december 2008 to p25. 4 billion as of march 2009. less measurable, but no less important, is rbap ’ s success in maintaining public confidence in rural banks in the face of successive bank closures. through vigilance and proactive measures, rbap ensured that your clients understood that these high profile bank closures basically involved a single group that is not representative of the management of other rural banks. i also wish to acknowledge rbap ’ s pioneering work on inclusive banking through technological and product innovations, as well as your continuing efforts to be more responsive and efficient in serving your clients. in particular, the rural banking sector continues to expand its operating network to reach more clients. what we have today, therefore, is a more solid and more inclusive rural banking industry. and so, once again, ladies and gentlemen, let us celebrate our rural banking sector with another round of applause! however there is much more that we have to accomplish and we are looking at rb

bank's objectives and policy strategies reduces economic and financial uncertainty and thereby allows businesses and households to make more - informed decisions. second, if practitioners in financial markets gain a better understanding of how policy is likely to respond to incoming information, asset prices and bond yields will tend to respond to economic data in ways that further the central bank's policy objectives. for example, if market participants understand that arriving information about the economy increases the likelihood of certain policy actions, then market interest rates will tend to move in a way that reinforces the expected actions, effectively supporting the goals of the central bank. third, clarity about the central bank's policy objectives and strategy may help anchor the public's long - term inflation expectations, which can substantially improve the efficacy of policy and the overall functioning of the economy. finally, open discussion of the central bank's analyses and forecasts invites valuable input and feedback from the public. the benefits of an open and accountable policymaking process have spurred the federal reserve, along with other major central banks, to take a number of actions over the years to increase its transparency. appropriately, given the unique position of the federal reserve and the sensitivity of financial markets to its communications, these steps have generally been incremental in nature ; but, taken together, they have substantially increased the ability of the american public to understand and to anticipate monetary policy decisions. the congress has also long been aware of the importance of federal reserve transparency and accountability ; in particular, a series of resolutions and laws passed in the 1970s set clear policy objectives for the federal reserve and required it to provide regular reports and testimony to the congress. 1 since 1975, the federal reserve has presented testimony twice each year to the congress on the conduct of monetary policy. these semiannual presentations have become an important vehicle for the u. s. central bank to make known its views on the outlook and on the appropriate stance of policy. other notable milestones in the federal reserve's progress toward greater openness include : in 1979, the first release of semiannual economic projections ; in 1983, the first publication of the beige book, which summarizes information about economic conditions received from the federal reserve system's business contacts ; in 1994, the decision to release a postmeeting statement when policy actions had been taken ; in 2000, the beginning of the practice of issuing a statement after each meeting of the federal open market committee ( fomc ) and including in the statement an assessment of