our peso rediscounting facility from p20 billion to p60 billion liberalized. equally important, we have liberalized our rediscounting guidelines. among others, we have raised the loan value of eligible papers for rediscounting from 80 % to 90 %. later on, deputy governor diwa guinigundo will have a power point presentation that will explain our liberalized guidelines. please note that our rediscounting facility also covers microfinance loans, in accordance with our inclusive banking policy. in particular, i am pleased to report that as of september 2008, outstanding microfinance loans of over 220 banks to about 886, 000 households have reached nearly p7 billion. indeed, our policy to provide better access to credit covers the entire spectrum of our economy. ladies and gentlemen, the bangko sentral ng pilipinas has implemented these measures to ensure continued normal operation of the philippine credit markets. what we have done is to act pre - emptively to avoid the credit crunch in the us and europe that has cut - off companies – big and small – from their traditional fund sources. in our case, you will be pleased to know that philippine banks remain liquid and continue to increase their lending in healthy double - digit growth rates. for instance, outstanding loans of commercial and universal banks as of december 2008 were up 17. 5 from the previous year. in particular, loans for production activities drove the expansion in bank lending, growing by 18. 3 percent in december while consumption loans grew by 13. 4 percent. in other words, the philippine banking system, which remains the primary source of funds for our business sector, is functioning normally and remains stable in the midst of the ongoing global financial turmoil. and so, we have the liquidity and enhanced access to credit. what we need to do now is to work together to sustain growth by stimulating economic activity and thereby avoid the negative feedback loop from the global crisis. we want to see firms continue to sell, households continue to spend, banks get their loans paid, and government sustains its fiscal efforts to support investments on infrastructure and social safety nets. while our economic fundamentals here in the philippines remain sound, there is great urgency in addressing the possible fall - out from the global economic and financial turmoil. in the us, president obama ’ s government promptly put together the first tranche of their economic stimulus package amounting to $ 787 billion. ladies and gentlemen, losing to

time was one of the greatest lessons in public finance of the great depression in the united states : when public expenditures were finally in high gear, the four - year great depression was about to end. in hindsight, the deep and painful dislocations of the great depression could have been mitigated if the government had responded more quickly. thus, other countries familiar with this lesson from the great depression are moving alongside the us government to shore up their respective economies, because delayed responses could prove very costly. this includes the philippines. in particular, our government has defined a p330 billion economic stimulus program to sustain market confidence and get the economy moving more robustly. but government alone cannot achieve this. let us therefore work together to support government ’ s initiatives to keep our economy growing, to continue to grow your business, to protect jobs and to create new employment opportunities for our people. let us be mindful of the possible effects of a downturn to millions of filipinos, especially to those who continue to live in poverty. and even as we come to terms with the reality of a global economic crisis, let us not forget the positive chinese point of view that sees opportunities in every crisis. sure, the challenges are big, but there are equally big opportunities in riding them out. at the end of the day, if we remain united, we shall be able to reap the dividends from our concerted, cooperative efforts together. and so, ladies and gentlemen, today let us renew our commitment to sustain the growth of our economy through better access to credit. once again, on behalf of the members of the monetary board – monetary board juanita amatong, monetary board member raul boncan, monetary board member nellie favisvillafuerte, monetary board member alfredo antonio, monetary board member ignacio bunye and monetary board member peter favila, we thank all of you for accepting our invitation to this forum. mabuhay ang pilipinas! mabuhay tayong lahat! maraming salamat po!