president corazon aquino, a world class team of economist, headed by no less than paul krugman, analyzed the philippine economy. and they concluded that given the economic conditions at that time, during president cory aquino ’ s time, the long - term growth of the philippine economy was in the neighborhood of 3 percent. repeat, 3 percent. we could only grow at 3 percent. that was then. things are significantly different now. over the past 25 years, meaningful reforms have helped build and fortify the institutions that facilitate growth by expanding the role of market forces in key sectors of the economy ; encouraging investments and private sector activity ; removing bottlenecks for doing business in the country ; and strengthening the country ’ s fiscal position and the financial sector, to name just a few. no doubt, the duterte administration is in a strong position to push for reforms by leveraging on its strong political capital as evidenced by the number of laws enacted in less than 3 years of the current administration ’ s leadership. these include, among others, recent enactment of the tax reforms, amendments to the bsp charter and rice tariffication law. these reforms, along with the other structural reforms in the pipeline, will continue to play a significant role in propelling the economy on a path of balanced, sustainable, and inclusive growth. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches let me take the chance to talk about republic act no. 11211 which was signed on 14 february 2019. this is a monumental milestone for the bsp. our three pillars of central banking — price stability, financial stability, and an efficient payments and settlements system — were further boosted with the expansion of the bsp ’ s policy toolkit. ra 11211 restored the bsp ’ s authority to issue its own debt papers as part of its regular monetary operations, establishes a stronger prudential regulatory framework to promote a safe and sound financial system through the expansion of supervisory coverage and authority to prescribe metrics attuned to international standards and practices. the amendment likewise empowers the bsp to oversee the country ’ s payment and settlement systems ( pss ) including critical financial market infrastructures that are vital components of the pss. looking ahead, we will continue to monitor domestic and global developments to ensure that the bsp is able to meet its inflation targets. the bsp is also ready to use all appropriate measures as needed to ensure an inflation environment conducive to sustainable growth of the philippine economy. rest assured

that the future policy actions of the bsp will continue to be guided by the following principles : 1. our primary focus will be price stability. 2. we will be pre - emptive rather than reactive and 3. our policy will be data - driven and evidence - based. finally, let me leave you with the assurance that the philippine economy is sound. it is one of the best performing economies in the world. its prospects are bright — extremely bright. and if you have money to invest, and i can see, some people here have money to invest, this is the best time to invest, invest, invest in the philippines. do not delay, do not waver. because if you do, you will regret it. to wrap up, let me end my presentation with these key take - aways. the bsp ’ s monetary policy actions will help ensure that 2019 and 2020 inflation targets are achieved. nevertheless, the bsp will remain watchful and vigilant, utilizing its analytical and surveillance tools for any potential risks to its monetary and financial stability objectives. the philippine economy has demonstrated uninterrupted economic expansion and has built domestic sources of resilience to help cushion against uncertainty in external environment and emerging domestic challenges strategic policy and structural reforms, addressing infrastructure gaps, and leveraging the country ’ s demographic opportunities have played a significant role and will continue to underpin the economy ’ s path towards balanced, sustainable, and inclusive growth. commitment to pursue infrastructure and reform agenda will help promote globally competitive industries in order to sustain the country ’ s economic growth momentum. lastly, on behalf of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas, i congratulate all the energetic and irrepressible members of the rotary club of manila, both young and old, for reaching 100 years! mabuhay ang rotary club of manila! mabuhay ang pilipinas! mabuhay po tayong lahat! 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches