“ new economy ” that we envision — that is, a philippines that is economically stronger, more technologically advanced, and more equitable — pushing for new laws, rolling out innovative programs, and building new infrastructure to strengthen and make more competitive the philippine economy. the bills we are pushing are the following : ( i ) financial institutions strategic transfer, or fist, which will allow banks to unload their nonperforming assets to asset management entities ; ( ii ) government financial institutions unified initiatives to distressed enterprises for economic recovery, or guide, which will provide assistance to important distressed firms that are critical for economic recovery ; ( iii ) amendments to the agri - agra law, which will expand the list of industries that banks may lend to in order to meet quotas for support to agricultural development ; 3 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches ( iv ) amendments to the credit information system act, to further enhance accessibility of credit to msmes ; ( v ) amendments to laws on deposit secrecy, to put more teeth to anti - money laundering and tax regulations, as well as to further improve good governance ; and ( vi ) financial consumer protection bill, to improve protection of consumers of financial products and services. the bsp also supports the create bill or corporate recovery and tax incentives for enterprises, as well as additional tax reforms pushed by the executive branch. the create bill seeks to accelerate economic recovery by cutting the corporate income tax and modernizing the fiscal incentives system to attract more job - generating investments. the other proposed tax reforms are those related to ( i ) real property valuation, ( ii ) passive income and financial intermediaries, and ( iii ) mining regime, among others. innovation is high in the philippines ’ “ new economy ” agenda. last year, president duterte signed the philippine innovation act, which seeks to enhance government support for innovation initiatives of msmes to boost their competitiveness ; and the innovative startup act, which spells government support for research and development of startup companies. rolling out of programs under these laws are underway as we lay the foundation for our future. the bsp is one with the government in the innovation agenda. we actively promote financial technology ( fintech ), and we adopt technology - driven means to engage with our supervised entities and the general public. two of my personal goals related to digitalization are the following : ( i ) at least half of financial transactions in the country be digital, and ( ii ) at least 70 percent of filipino adults have financial accounts.

bis central bankers'speeches second, emergency response. in the philippines, the way we responded to the crisis can be described in three words : quick, appropriate, and united. quick. as early as march, the national government imposed a strict lockdown for three months, which saved lives and allowed the buildup of the country ’ s healthcare capacity. since the initial lockdown, we have significantly increased the country ’ s capacity for daily covid testing, contract tracing, and patient care, which allowed us to shift to less stringent lockdown measure starting in june. also, congress was quick to pass critical bills supportive of the government ’ s initiatives to safeguard lives, livelihoods, and businesses. the first “ bayanihan ” act was signed into law in march, and the succeeding version, or “ bayanihan ii, ” was signed last month. “ bayanihan, ” by the way, is a word that describes the filipino spirit of cooperation and helping hand. p1. 7 trillion was made available by the national government — aided in part by the first bayanihan law — to support the most vulnerable sectors and to fight covid - 19, as well as by the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp ) as liquidity injection through the financial system. under bayanihan ii 9, p165. 5 billion worth of additional relief and mitigating measures was earmarked. on the monetary front, the bsp was among the first central banks in the world to respond to the crisis before it became full - blown. we cut policy rates by 25 basis points as early as february as a pre - emptive move against the impact of the pandemic. this was followed by three successive 50 bps cut in less than 4 months. this pre - emptive move also helped maintain confidence on the country ’ s central bank, which is resolute in its intention to provide timely and sufficient support to the economy, as needed. appropriate. the whole - of - government response to the crisis mainly targeted the hardest hit groups : the micro, small, and medium enterprises, their employees and other low - income earners, repatriated overseas filipino workers, and members of the health sector. the bsp did the heavy lifting in terms of ensuring ample liquidity in the financial system and providing regulatory relief to banks. in turn, we expect banks to help their hard - hit customers cope with the crisis as well. extraordinary times call