lend more ; penalty for reserve deficiencies and compliance period with bsp supervisory and reportorial requirements to allow banks to focus on delivery of financial services ; and know your customer ( kyc ) requirements to facilitate access by the public to financial services. meanwhile, prudential accounting relief measures were also implemented to reduce the impact of mark - to - market ( mtm ) losses on the financial condition of supervised financial institutions. moreover, the bsp has implemented extraordinary liquidity measures to complement the national government ’ s programs in mitigating the impact of covid - 19. these measures include a ₱300 billion repurchase agreement with the bureau of the treasury as well as the launching of a package of measures to support lending to micro -, small -, and medium - sized enterprises ( msmes ). recognizing the importance of msmes in the economy, the bsp allowed banks to include new msme loans as part of their compliance with the required reserve ratio. bsp temporarily reduced the credit risk weight of msme loans that are current in status from 75 % to 50 % and zero weight for loans with government guarantee. these policy measures are aimed at encouraging more bank lending to msmes. in closing, let me emphasize that the bsp has responded swiftly and decisively to mitigate economic and financial fall - out from the covid - 19 pandemic through its monetary instruments and regulatory relief measures. but there remains risks to our growth outlook even as a strong recovery is expected in 2021. the challenge for policymakers, therefore, is how to boost the economy through the appropriate mix of fiscal and monetary measures. and even as we enable the economy to gradually regain its footing, we should continue with our efforts to make the economy nimbler to adapt to the new economy. in particular, the bsp is committed to pursuing a 3 - year digital payments transformation roadmap that includes priority initiatives such as open banking. i believe the ongoing changes to the domestic economy are a good opportunity to accelerate the bsp ’ s call towards greater digitalization to promote a more efficient and inclusive financial system the bsp will continue to work with market participants and relevant government authorities to ensure that its policy responses and reform initiatives remain timely and appropriate for these challenging times. thank you. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

amando m tetangco, jr : overview of the philippine economy against the background of a difficult global environment remarks by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the foreign correspondents association of the philippines ( focap ), manila, 23 july 2008. * * * ladies and gentlemen of the foreign correspondents association of the philippines, special guests, good morning. thank you for inviting me again to speak before you today. the last time i was here in february, i discussed with you the challenges that the philippine economy would be facing this year. these challenges include the us economic slowdown, the global financial market turbulence and the rising and volatile prices of oil and other commodities. since we are now in the middle of the year, allow me to provide you with an update of how the economy is doing in the midst of an admittedly more difficult global environment. indeed the economic environment has turned more challenging for reasons that are wellknown. global growth has decelerated as a result of a weak us economy, the credit crunch, and the high and unstable oil and food prices. official statistics on 1st quarter gdp of the us showed a 1 percent expansion, higher than previously expected but still below par. meanwhile, the strains in global financial markets have persisted and are likely to continue for some time. the coordinated credit operations by the major central banks and the policy rate cuts by the us have helped ease market tensions, but wider problems in the financial system have remained. this makes the operating environment difficult. the main problem is uncertainty. first, there is continued uncertainty about the size of losses from defaults on us subprime mortgages that the global financial system will eventually have to absorb. second, there is uncertainty about where these exposures will end up. third, this lack of information breeds fear of ratings downgrades, of steep sell - offs, and of other unknown consequences. the biggest and most immediate challenge is the sharp spike in global oil and food prices. world oil prices continue to be volatile at elevated levels. global food prices remain high though the increases have moderated. these concurrent and interrelated shocks to the economy have contributed to the acceleration of domestic inflation. as a result, as with most – if not all – countries, the domestic inflation environment has become more challenging. in june 2008, inflation stood at 11. 4 percent compared to 2.