( 2019 ) ‘ the non - standard monetary policy measures of the ecb : motivations, effectiveness and risks ’. banca d ’ italia, occasional paper 486. undoubtedly, many of the instruments deployed in recent years will remain in use in the near future. at the same time, we are now better equipped than in the past to mitigate the undesired side effects of some instruments, as in the case of the two - tier mechanism for the remuneration of excess reserves. a final point that i would like to touch upon concerns the governance of economic research at the present time. economic research is part of the monetary policy toolbox. sound economic research is a precondition for the independent assessment of the most appropriate monetary policy stance. as governor visco remarked ( 2016 ), ‘ monetary policy cannot wait until sufficient information accumulates that may cast full light on the new mechanisms at work ’. 5 this issue has been evident in recent years, when we all faced the great challenge of ‘ conduct [ ing ] both policy and research in real time ’, as the former ecb president draghi once said. 6 precisely because of that, timely and high quality economic research has become increasingly important within central banks, since there is a compelling need to assess the impact of new policies as they are deployed. in this respect, i see two main challenges for central banks in the coming years. first, in the face of the great uncertainties on the shape, timing and features of the recovery ahead, we must keep producing research in ‘ real time ’, making use of a broad range of modelling tools and of more sophisticated datasets. secondly, our research should not only be timely, but also seek the highest quality standards. quality is needed to make policy credible for both experts and the general public alike. clarity in communicating our results is also crucial. at the same time, the complexities of the current economic environment urge us to keep enlarging the range of research topics covered, in order to better understand the drivers of the structural changes affecting the real economy as well as financial markets. in light of the above, it is of the utmost importance to strengthen international collaboration with other central banks, universities, think tanks and industrial bodies in order to generate and nurture new and better ideas. we are therefore delighted that this workshop has been co - organized by banca d ’ italia together with suerf. through a wide range of events and publications bridging research and policy

the global environment which continue to dampen investor sentiment, both externally and domestically. fx inflows from of remittances as well as bpo earnings continue to contribute significantly to the country ’ s gir. cash remittances reached us $ 30. 1 billion in 2019 while bpo revenues were recorded at us $ 16. 4 billion for the first three quarters of 2019. preliminary data as of end - january 2020 shows that the country ’ s gross international reserves ( gir ) stood at us $ 86. 4 billion, which provides an ample external liquidity buffer that is equivalent to 7. 6 months ’ worth of imports of goods and services and payment of primary income. this is way above the traditional 3 month - import cover. we will continue to monitor recent developments that could pose as risks to these inflows ( tourism, remittances, exports ), such as the lingering weak external demand, the impact of corona virus outbreak in china and the continued uncertainty surrounding the trade deal between the us and china, among others. the sustained build - up of the country ’ s foreign exchange reserves continues to lend strong support for the stability of the philippine peso. the current movement of the peso reflects a confluence of factors from both the external and domestic environment. we continue to adopt a market - determined exchange rate which allows the value of the philippine peso to move along with the demand for and supply of foreign exchange in the economy. nevertheless, the we are ready to act to prevent excessive peso volatility and overshooting due to speculative activities. fitch ratings recent revision of the philippine ’ s outlook from stable to positive, r & i ’ s upgrade of the philippines ’ credit rating from “ bbb ” to “ bbb + ”, the bsp ’ s decision to cut policy rates by 25 bps as well as reports of an all - time high remittances and tourism in the philippines in 2019 provided a calm ground for country ’ s financial markets.. the equities market continues to perform strongly in the second month of 2020 as the psei continued to trade above the 7, 100 benchmark, hitting a peak of 7, 507. 20 index pts. on 11 february before closing at 7, 413. 0 pts on 20 february 2020. meanwhile, the bond market, as of 19 february 2020, the emerging market bond index global ( embig ) philippines spread, stood narrower at 68 bps from the