from atty. william villareal and director paul de jesus of pnas on numismatic pieces and counter - stamped coins. lastly, the bsp ’ s currency policy and integrity department will share reminders on the proper handling of banknotes and coins. on its part, the bsp has been working closely with partners like pnas to promote, protect, and preserve the country ’ s rich numismatic heritage through educational, cultural preservation, information sharing, and collections management initiatives. with more than 10, 000 numismatic pieces in our collection that date as far back as the prehispanic area, the bsp money museum serves as the main repository of the country ’ s rich numismatic history and heritage. built in january 1974 with the bank ’ s own currency holdings and donations from various 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches collectors, the museum is now nearing 50 years old and chronicles the rich and evolving national story in our banknotes and coins. before i end, i would like to invite the public to look into commemorative notes and coins for sale at the bsp store. these commemorative coins are minted in honor of a specific person or historical event – from the anniversaries of our national heroes to pope john paul ii ’ s visit to the philippines. just a few weeks ago, we released commemorative coins featuring general emilio aguinaldo, teresa magbanua, and mariano ponce. you can check the bsp website or browse through social media channels for available commemorative offerings. in closing, while the bsp is pushing for the transition to a digital - first and cash - lite economy, we will always look to our coins and banknotes as timeless reminders of our past and aspirations as a nation. they will remain curators of our history and custodians of our national identity. for it is only through an understanding of the past that we gain a deeper appreciation of how far we ’ ve come as a nation and craft a better path ahead. at this juncture, i now turn the floor over to professor ambeth. thank you and i wish everyone an insightful and productive session ahead. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

its april 2020 world economic outlook ( weo ) report, expects global economic activity to shrink radically in 2020 given widespread disruptions caused by covid - 19. while a partial recovery is anticipated in 2021, global gdp level is expected to remain below the pre - covid trend. the imf projects global economic growth to contract sharply by 3. 0 percent in 2020 before inching up to 5. 8 percent in 2021. nine out of ten countries in the imf ’ s 189 - country membership are expected to see their economies contract in 2020, including the philippines. the development budget coordination committee ( dbcc ) has recently announced the national government ’ s revised gross domestic product ( gdp ) growth forecast range of – 2. 0 percent to – 3. 4 percent for 2020, a sharp departure from the 6. 5 percent to 7. 5 percent growth target range 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches before the pandemic for 2021, the dbcc expects the domestic economy to recover strongly with a gdp growth forecast range of 7. 1 percent to 8. 1 percent, this strong rebound is based on the assumption that there is no serious second wave of the disease and that the government would be able to craft and implement a robust economic recovery program. in this slide we show that of remittances have been on a steady growth path in recent years and have contributed as well to domestic economic expansion. for the first two months of 2020, cash remittances still grew by 4. 6 percent to reach us $ 5 billion. with its strong contribution to consumption expenditure, we understand the growing concern on how the covid - 19 pandemic will impact on future remittances flows into the country. in this regard, the bsp closely monitors the latest reports from the philippine overseas employment administration ( poea ), department of labor and employment ( dole ), and the department of foreign affairs ( dfa ) on of workers ’ deployment, displacement, and repatriation status. of remittances could contract in 2020 due mainly to the large repatriation of workers and economic disruptions in host countries. the world bank projects a decline in global remittances by about 20 percent in 2020, with remittance inflows to east asia and the pacific expected to decline by 13 percent, driven mainly by declining inflows from the us, the largest source of remittances to the region. however, it is important to point out that