, and other strategically important companies. the agri - agra bill aims to strengthen rural development by providing for a holistic approach in addressing the financing needs of the broader agricultural financing ecosystem. it also provides opportunities for private sector financing to be directed to activities that will promote capacity - building and improve welfare and well - being of agricultural households in rural communities as well as green finance projects. the bsp is also working with the japanese government on the development a credit risk database for msmes. this is expected to be an important market infrastructure which will lessen the dependence of banks on collateral and increase msme access to financing. the increased use of digital financial services during the pandemic provides an opportunity for the bsp to advance initiatives aimed at accelerating digitalization in the financial industry. during the community quarantine period, there was sustained momentum in the volume and value of electronic fund transfers via pesonet and instapay. a total of 13. 7 million transfers worth php 325 billion of combined pesonet and instapay transactions were recorded for the first 45 days under ecq. these numbers represent a substantial upswing by 18 percent in volume and by 25 percent in value compared with the same time span before the ecq. we also saw a remarkable rise in the volume and value of payments made from august 2019 to august 2020. over this twelve - month period, instapay registered a growth rate of 820 percent in volume, from 3. 2 million to 29. 0 million transactions, and 499 percent in value, from php 24 billion to php 141 billion. pesonet transactions more than doubled with the volume surging from 1. 1 million to about 2. 7 million, i. e., by 143 percent year - on - year. total value rose from php 118 billion to php 253 billion, or by 114 percent over the same period. aside from aiding businesses in mobilizing funds during the pandemic, the pesonet was also used to distribute welfare benefits from the social security system ’ s small business wage subsidy ( sbws ) program. it is because of these developments that we are pursuing the bsp ’ s three - year digital payments transformation roadmap. these are : ( 1 ) digital banking, ( 2 ) open banking, ( 3 ) data governance and ethical use of data for banks, and ( 4 ) open architecture / cross - selling. we are in the process of laying the enabling framework that will encourage the

can become an active market for interest rate discovery and hedging. despite the growing volumes in the otc derivatives market, as is the case globally, there had been some apprehensions regarding the appropriate legal backing for these instruments. this issue has now been addressed with an appropriate amendment to the reserve bank of india act. otc derivatives are now clearly legally valid, even if they are not traded on any recognised stock exchange. exchange traded derivatives have their own role to play in the debt market – but by their very nature they have to be standardised products. otc derivatives, on the other hand can be customised to the requirements of the trading entities. thus, both otc and exchange traded derivatives are essential for market development. a central counter party based clearing arrangement for otc derivatives would reduce counterparty risk and extend the benefits of netting. accordingly, in order to strengthen the otc derivatives market and to mitigate the risks involved, a clearing arrangement for the otc interest rate derivatives also need to be considered. this measure would strengthen the otc interest rate derivatives market, and provide greater transparency as need through adequate reporting requirements. while everywhere in the world, most trading is in the otc segment, there is no reason why we cannot innovate and have electronic based, order matched trading to have a wider reach and also thereby enhance liquidity in the market. work is now afoot to provide for an exchange traded system for corporate bonds. as we make arrangements for the operation of better markets for interest rate discovery, trading and hedging instruments, i would like to stress the need and importance of sound and adequate risk management practices by market participants in the derivatives market. international experience teaches us the need for greater care in handling these instruments. i would expect that the market players not only put in place an appropriate risk management policy and procedures for these products, but would also give equal importance to the skills development of their human resources to handle these instruments and to appreciate the underlying risks. as interest rate derivatives grow, an area which requires attention relate to accounting and disclosures. the relevant standards need to be comprehensive and benchmarked to international standards. government securities market following the enactment of the fiscal responsibility and budget management act, 2003, from april 2006 onwards, the reserve bank is no longer permitted to subscribe to government securities in the primary market. in order to ensure a smooth transition to the new regime, restructuring of current institutional processes has already been initiated ( mohan, 2006a )