impact on families and communities. and so today, we are pleased to present to you the 2013 cma winners who will share their unique stories, challenges, and how they finally found the road to success. they are the latest batch of inspiring good role models for other entrepreneurial pinoys. so far, this annual search for outstanding microentrepreneurs has generated 93 winners since it was jointly launched in 2002 by the bangko sentral ng pilipinas, the microfinance council of the philippines and citi. since then, this award - winning program has been replicated by citi in 32 other countries. i am also pleased to announce that even as the global survey of economic intelligence unit consistently ranks the philippines as having the best regulatory framework for the development of microfinance, the bangko sentral ng pilipinas continues to work on regulatory enhancements in response to changing market needs and developments. among others, the bsp has done the following : • raised the average daily balance of microdeposits to promote higher savings rate among microfinance clients ; bis central bankers ’ speeches • enabled microinsurance providers to expand coverage to families of microfinance clients ; • improved procedures in the product approval of housing microfinance loans and micro - agri loans to simplify the process by which banks can offer innovative microfinance products ; • allowed the acceptance of alternative identification documents ( ids ) to open bank accounts, including those issued to persons with disability or under government welfare ; & • institutionalized a consumer protection framework to provide comprehensive protection for all financial consumers, including microfinance clients. ladies and gentlemen. while we celebrate our milestones, we know that there is so much more that we can do to improve the lives of filipinos, particularly those who live in poverty. we can help them help themselves by showing them the opportunities microfinance can provide. as we launch this year ’ s search for new cma awardees, we hope we can gain the interest of more filipinos to join the microfinance sector. let us therefore continue to spread the word about microfinance and the stories of our cma winners some of whom are with us today. through them, we are reassured again and again that microfinance is a viable option for entrepreneurial pinoys. mabuhay ang microfinance! mabuhay ang ating mahal na bansang pilipinas! maraming salamat sa inyong

- vis its peers. in its latest world economic outlook report, the imf projects the philippines to post the fastest growth in the region this year at 6. 5 percent. but this outlook is not without risk. taking into account the russia - ukraine conflict, the development budget coordination committee adjusted its full - year growth target to a range of 2. 0 to 4. 0 percent but is expected to ease back within the range in 2023. as has been announced, i have accepted the invitation by the newly elected president to lead the new economic team as finance secretary. while changes come with a new set of challenges, i believe the country will significantly benefit from the policy continuity that the incoming administration is poised to observe. i am confident that the transition in administration in the philippines will pave the way for more economic gains for the filipino people. thank you for your attention.