our country ’ s economic growth are in your hands. we at the bsp also look forward to working with you on financial inclusion programs that will attract more filipinos to be part of the financial mainstream where money would be more widely available at prevailing commercial rates. rates that are significantly lower than the 1, 000 % a year rate in the informal sector. imagine the beneficial impact this can bring to millions of our microentrepreneurs. let us therefore continue to work together to keep the philippine economy growing and make lives better for filipinos. this is very much in keeping with the rotary club ’ s two mottos : “ service above self ” and “ he profits most … who serves best. ” ladies and gentlemen of the rotary club of manila, together, may we have a successful, meaningful and prosperous new year! thank you for your attention. mabuhay ang pilipinas! mabuhay po tayong lahat! bis central bankers ’ speeches

central banks, especially the us fed. we also carefully communicated our policy intent to the market. at the same time, international oil prices started to drop. subsequently, inflation started to moderate and fall to the middle of the target range of 3 – 5 per cent inflation. we are pleased about this outcome. inflation management is a crucial function of the bsp as it provides the stability that our economy and its stakeholders need. even as uncertainties in global markets led to some capital flow reversals and depreciation pressures on the peso, we were able to maintain a strong external liquidity position. the current account sustained its surplus because remittances, receipts from the tourism and bpo industries remained strong. as a result, our gross international reserves settled at a robust $ 79. 8 billion in december 2014, providing us buffers from possible external shocks. the reserves are enough to cover 10. 2 months ’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income ; it is also equivalent to 8. 4 times the country ’ s short - term external debt based on original maturity and six times based on residual maturity. bis central bankers ’ speeches our strong external position continues to be a source of confidence for our creditors and investors. another source of strength for the philippine economy is our sound, stable and liquid banking system as public confidence has kept deposits growing to record - high levels. among others, this has sustained double - digit growth rates in lending, particularly to the productive sectors of the economy. overall, our banks have strong balance sheets, solid asset growth, low npl ratios and above - standard capital adequacy ratios as a result of good governance practices and adherence to international best practice in risk management. thus, our banking sector continues to be highly rated by third party assessors. in particular, the philippines received the only positive outlook among 69 jurisdictions assessed by moody ’ s, a major international credit rating agency. indeed, our banks are fully engaged with us in our efforts to help ensure that our system is sound, that its operations are aligned with international standards, and that its reach covers more of the previously unbanked or unserved areas. in 2014, we endorsed republic act 10641 that allows the full entry of foreign banks in the philippines and prepared the irr for its implementation. with the approval of the irr, additional foreign banks can now apply to operate in the philippines either as a branch or as a wholly - owned subsidiary. there are clear economic benefits