insurance services to lower - income people, particularly in those areas where traditional financial services are hardly there or do not exist. microfinance is also increasingly being seen as an effective tool for poverty reduction. moreover, when microfinance is provided in an environment where there are sufficient alternatives for diversified household income generation, and where access to information, appropriate physical infrastructure, and integrity in loan repayments are present, can be and it is a key success factor in reducing poverty. ladies and gentlemen, looking back through history, one of the best - known microfinance success stories is perhaps the grameen bank of bangladesh. its success may be expressed in terms of its staying power and that it has offered to help disadvantaged groups to enable them meet basic needs. this has been attributed mainly to its concentration on lending to women groups. around the world, various grameen models have been replicated, especially in south america. within africa, microfinance organizations have emerged in bukina fasso, the gambia, ghana, kenya, malawi, south africa, tanzania, uganda, and zimbabwe, to mention a few. however, what appears to be the common factor in all these areas is the lack of adequate supervision for the sector. in the zambian case, the principal financial legislation, the banking and financial services act of 1994 ( bfsa ) did not provide for the regulation and supervision of microfinance organizations until the 2000 amendment. chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, in most developing and transitional countries, microfinance institutions are using field - based “ best practices ” that have emerged from many years of world - wide experience in providing credit and savings to lower - income groups. however, best practices alone cannot guarantee the success of microfinance programmes in the absence of an appropriate legal and regulatory framework. practioners and policy makers worldwide now realize that without appropriate regulatory and supervisory framework, support from commercial banks and appropriate infrastructure, most microfinance services will continue to be donor - dependant and will remain limited in outreach. ladies and gentlemen, since i have been given the floor i now wish to take this opportunity to briefly share with you the zambian experience with regard to the microfinance market. despite its land - based wealth, zambia faces very significant development challenges. the rapid structural adjustment process that took place during the 1990s has had a harsh impact on our people, with the result that poverty is now widespread in our country. currently, a significant number of the 10 million or so zambians

! just to be sure, let me ask you : nag - level up na ba tayo? tama! in other words, ladies and gentlemen, we at the bsp remain faithful to the continuous improvement process. this is as it should be. as a wise person once said, the path to excellence has no finish line. the moment we become complacent the moment we stop trying to improve ourselves is the moment when we start deteriorating. as the institution mandated to provide stability to our economy through appropriate monetary and banking policies, we at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas have the responsibility to make sure we render excellent work, at all times. this means we have to be prepared to work well in all types of operating environment in good times and in bad. we have to retool and reinvent the way we do things as we work in a constantly changing and challenging surroundings. in this connection, let us acknowledge the members of the monetary board. they have been supportive of our continuing efforts to enhance employee performance through various incentives and employee development programs. palakpakan po natin sila. this is the rationale that underpins our awards theme : “ embracing change, empowering people. ” and so ladies and gentlemen, let us once again commit to work together to provide excellent service to our country and our people. let this be our unifying goal! bspers, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat! mabuhay ang bangko sentral! mabuhay ang pilipinas!