loans guaranteed by select government institutions ; ( vii ) and allowed reclassification of debt securities to reduce the impact of mark - to - market losses ; ( viii ) allowed temporary exclusion of debt securities acquired from market making activities from the single borrower ’ s limit ( sbl ). let me stress that going into the crisis, the philippine banking sector has been strong and stable. now, with the regulatory measures put in place, we intend to maintain the banking sector ’ s strength amid the crisis. as of march 2020, the capital adequacy ratio ( car ) of the country ’ s universal and commercial banks stood at 15. 3 percent on a solo basis. 3 / 13 bis central bankers'speeches this is higher than the bsp ’ s minimum requirement of 10 percent and the bank for international settlement ’ s prescribed 8 percent. as of march 2020, their liquidity coverage ratio was at 171 percent, higher than the regulatory requirement of at least 100 percent. their assets continue to grow, rising to p17. 2 trillion in june 2020 from p15. 8 trillion in the same period last year. the banking system ’ s gross total loan portfolio ( tlp ) rose by 7. 3 percent year on year to p9. 9 trillion as of end - june 2020, slower than the 10. 5 percent growth rate in june 2019. the quality of the universal and commercial banks ’ loan portfolio remained satisfactory. the nonperforming loan ( npl ) ratio stood low at 2. 1 percent as of end - june 2020, slightly higher than the 1. 6 percent ratio as of end - june 2019. meantime, the crisis has led to concerns that banks may suffer from a sharp rise in nonperforming loans. but based on our assessment, this will not be the case. we expect any increase in npls to be modest. a bsp survey conducted in april among top 20 universal and commercial banks, top 20 thrift banks, and top 20 rural and cooperative banks showed that, on average, these banks expect their npls to increase from 2. 4 percent last march to 4. 6 percent to december 2020. this likely increase is manageable. we have implemented numerous relief measures. and more are being considered. in particular, we are looking at additional regulatory enhancements that will enable our regulated entities to focus their resources on addressing the impact of the pandemic on their operations and the financial consumers. we will announce the additional relief measures once finalized.

the story is simple : there is no substitute for conscientious preparation and hard work to guard ourselves against the big bad wolf. analogous to the construction of the brick house in the story, the philippine economy was built through the pursuit of wide - ranging, and at times difficult, policy reforms over several years which allowed the economy to endure several big bad crises. building the house of bricks 1. the output expansion we have realized for the past two decades has been built on purposeful structural reforms supported by disciplined macroeconomic policymaking. this paved the way for the economy to increase investments, pursue fiscal consolidation and reduce debt, improve labor dynamics, and enhance competitiveness, all of which contributed to the philippines becoming one of the fastest growing economies in emerging asia. 2. our efforts toward maintaining price and financial stability also bore fruits. last year marked the fifth straight year that the inflation target has been achieved. inflation in the first nine months of 2014 at 4. 4 percent is also well within the government ’ s full year target of 3 – 5 percent. on the other hand, amid bouts of financial market volatilities, ample liquidity in the system granted domestic borrowers with continued access to domestic financing to support economic activities. the 10 - year us treasury traded at 2. 137 pct. on 15 october 2014. bis central bankers ’ speeches 3. the country ’ s current account remains in surplus, supported by sustained increase in overseas filipinos ’ ( ofs ) remittances, business process outsourcing ( bpo ) revenues, as well as tourism receipts. our foreign exchange ( fx ) reserves are adequate to meet the country ’ s fx liquidity requirements. 4. sustained structural reforms have kept our banking system in good shape, demonstrated by improved quality of banks ’ assets and loan portfolios, profitability metrics as well as adequacy of capital. the bsp is also on track with the requirements under the asean financial integration framework ( afif ) with the recent approval of the amendments to the foreign bank entry liberalization law. 5. meanwhile, in support of the national government ’ s ( ng ) overarching goal of achieving inclusive growth, the bsp ardently pursues the implementation of its financial inclusion program. we are further inspired with the increase in the number of participants in the bsp ’ s programs on microfinance, credit surety fund, and economic and financial learning. the potential big bad wolves the philippine economy also faces potential