benjamin e diokno : ubs conference call opening statement opening statement by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), of the ubs conference call, 24 april 2020. * * * to our stakeholders from the financial markets, my colleagues from the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ), and to other participants of this conference call, good afternoon. the bsp would like to thank ubs for inviting us to speak to its clients to discuss pressing issues that concern the markets at this time. the entire world is confronted with one of the most difficult challenges to mankind in the last 100 years. the covid - 19 pandemic has led to many deaths and has forced many economies into sharp fall. the philippines is no exception. given the uncertainty as to when the pandemic will subside, the estimated impact of covid - 19 on the domestic economy, in a worst - case scenario, is estimated to be between negative 1 percent and zero. the more upbeat scenario is a growth of between one and two percent. as you know the philippines was in a strong position going into this pandemic. the reforms we implemented in the past and our prudent management of the economy created fiscal and monetary space, which we are putting to good use as we address the challenges from covid - 19. other countries are not as well positioned. we are taking an all - of - government approach to deal with the pandemic, with the primary focus set on addressing public health needs. measures to ease the adverse impact of the crisis on incomes of households and firms are also being undertaken. the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ) is one with the national government and the entire nation in mitigating the impact of the outbreak on livelihoods and lives — that is, in a manner that is decisive, prompt, and efficient. indeed, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. as you may have already read in news reports, the bsp has implemented many unprecedented measures to soften the blow of the pandemic on the economy, and we stand ready to do more if necessary. among these measures, which help ensure much needed liquidity at this critical time and shore up confidence, are the following : a cumulative 125 - basis - point reduction in the monetary policy rate since february 2020 ; purchases of government securities in the secondary market ; reduction

capital and technology support for sustained and fast economic development in china. the size and dynamics of the chinese market have given european companies room for further development. strong economic complementarities between china and europe, as well as china and france have laid a solid foundation for strengthening our economic and financial ties. economic globalization has increasingly integrated the global capital market. financial institutions ’ expansion and information technology development have enabled them to provide financial services globally. cross - border m & a activities have increased tremendously both in terms of size and speed and blurred the nationalities of financial institutions. learning international experiences and adopting international best practices is one of the important principles in china ’ s reform and opening - up. in 1990 ’ s, china introduced the value - added tax ( vat ), which is a french invention. the reform has a large impact on china ’ s economic and trade development. we also felt that if we couldn ’ t have understood international experiences and followed the best practices, we would probably have zigzagged in our development or even paid a heave price. therefore, we value the opportunity to exchange views with our french friends. financial market has also shown a globalization trend. along with further reform and opening - up in china, foreign capitals will continue to participate in the chinese financial sector, while more and more chinese institutions and capitals will go abroad to actively participate in the financial globalization. chinese financial market has had much interaction with its foreign counterparts, a natural process of market development and selection, but there are still rooms and needs for countries to improve their market entry regulations. china committed itself to further open - up in the 5 - year transitional period when it joined the wto. the chinese government has reiterated the policy to further open - up in various important documents. sustained progress has been made in financial market reform and integration with the world market. we will continue efforts to develop financial market, further open up the market in a gradual and orderly manner and promote rmb ’ s free convertibility steadily. to conclude my speech, i wish the forum a great success and all participants good health!