net of rrp placements with the bsp, lending also increased by 22. 6 percent year - on - year in february, slightly slower compared to the 24. 5 percent expansion in the previous month. we have allowed liquidity to grow faster than we would normally tolerate since we see that these funds are being used in productive sectors. nonetheless, we are mindful that while liquidity fuels economic growth, excess liquidity could fan inflation. in view of this, we always keep in mind that balance is necessary to ensure that we are able to support growth in an environment of stable prices. one of the lessons we learned from the 1997 asian financial crisis was the value of managing external debt and building up fx reserves for self insurance. this chart shows that we have indeed learned this lesson well. based on preliminary data, as of end - march 2009, our reserves have remained broadly steady and close to record level at us $ 38. 9 billion. this suffices to cover about 6. 2 months of imports of goods and payments of services and income, or alternatively, it could cover our short - term external debt based on residual maturity about 2. 9 times. ( what's interesting to note is this level of reserves is more than fourfold our reserves level in 1997 of $ 8. 8 billion! ) we were able to continue building reserves because our external payments position has remained in surplus in 2008 ( in fact for nearly 5 years now ). the healthy external balance has been supported by remittances of overseas filipinos as well as higher services receipts particularly from business process outsourcing. in february 2009, our balance of payments position posted a surplus of us $ 469 million, resulting in a year - to - date surplus of us $ 2. 2 billion in 2009. thus, even as we face a slowdown in external demand and capital flows, the stronger external liquidity position that we currently enjoy will make us less vulnerable to the moods and swings of international financial markets. this slide shows that ( 1 ) the banking system ’ s asset base has been expanding steadily, supported by sustained growth in deposits. our banks have continued to perform their central role of efficiently channeling funds to productive uses and managing and distributing risks ; ( 2 ) banks have been offloading their non - performing assets and problem loans. as a result, the npl ratio is now at the pre - asian crisis level of around 4. 0 percent. furthermore, the profitability of the banking system

benjamin e diokno : welcome remarks - “ combating money laundering during pandemic ” welcome remarks by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the webinar on “ combating money laundering during pandemic ”, 21 july 2020. * * * a pleasant day to everyone! i am happy to welcome all of you to the webinar series 2020 that the bangko sentral ng pilipinas institute is conducting in partnership with the international monetary fund – singapore training institute. this collaboration emphasizes the need for organizations and institutions like the bangko sentral ng pilipinas and the international monetary fund to continuously work together to discuss timely and relevant economic and financial issues with a view to developing a better appreciation of these issues and finding solutions that adhere to international good practices. the first topic of the webinar series, combating money laundering during pandemic, highlights the serious challenges that money laundering is creating among financial institutions and economies of the world during this difficult period. the discussion is timely as we often witness that money launderers and fraudsters thrive during crisis periods as they take advantage of the vulnerability of the world economy. while the global economic activities have slowed down sharply during the current pandemic, money laundering activities are continuously being reported, which give us reason to believe that opportunistic threats abound. in the case of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas, we issued memorandum 2020 – 036, dated april 29, 2020, directing all banks to pay close attention to new forms of money laundering and terrorism financing risks. aside from phishing or spear phishing campaigns and other cases of fraudulent activities highlighted in our advisories, bsp - supervised institutions have been warned to be on their guard against illegal schemes that exploit the changes in work arrangements, lifestyles or behavior of the public due to covid - 19. these new illegal schemes include donations or charity scams, impostor investment, product scams, money mules, online sex trafficking and exploitation, veiled donations for terrorism financing, which are usually coursed through financial transactions through fund or wire transfers and deposits. bsp - supervised financial institutions are also advised to consider these kinds of criminal activities and typologies in their anti - money laundering and counter terrorism financing controls and compliance processes and to report suspicious transactions to the anti - money laundering council. they are also