in the monetary policy stance are warranted. nevertheless, the phillippines has sufficient policy space, both monetary and fiscal, to deal with external shocks and their spillovers to the domestic economy. let us not forget that an appropriate mix of monetary, fiscal, and other structural policies is crucial in achieving the government ’ s macroeconomic objectives. economic activity in 2020 will be supported by strong household consumption, robust agricultural sector activity, increased government spending following the timely approval of the 2020 national budget, and higher capital spending for the public sector ’ s build, build, build program and private sector ’ s capital formation. nevertheless, even amid external headwinds, the country ’ s external payments position recently made a turnaround from a negative position in 2018, to a surplus of us $ 6. 27 billion for the period january – november 2019. the surplus in the bop position may be attributed partly to higher net inflows of foreign direct investments and foreign portfolio investments which was bolstered by favorable investor sentiment on the country ’ s solid macroeconomic fundamentals. at the same time, the current account balance in the first three quarters of 2019 posted a narrower deficit of us $ 992 million from us $ 5. 8 billion in the same period in 2018. this positive development was due largely from the lower trade in goods deficit combined with higher net receipts in the trade in services, and in the primary and secondary income accounts. the deficit in the current account is largely a reflection of the rise in investments in the economy over the past few years. this in turn has been due largely to the government embarking on an ambitious, but also long - overdue infrastructure program. the latest outlook for the balance of payments already takes into account the national government ’ s ( ng ) planned increase in infrastructure spending over the medium term. the current account is expected to be in deficit in the medium term, reflecting continued imports of capital goods, raw materials and intermediate goods imports as the government ramps up its massive infrastructure program. nonetheless, fiscal spending is being undertaken prudently. the ng has put a cap on its fiscal deficit to gdp ratio at 3. 2 percent for 2019 and 2020, mitigating any pressure on the current account coming from the infrastructure program. moreover, as public infrastructure investments result in an overall improvement in productivity and overall capacity of the economy, the subsequent boost in manufacturing and export activities as well as the continued strong inflows from ofw remittances, business process outsourcing

benjamin e diokno : inclusion and digital transformation - a collaborative approach to regulating fintech speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the finance executives breakfast roundtable, manila, 11 october 2019. * * * good morning, ladies and gentlemen. it is always a pleasure to engage with key stakeholders of the finance industry as it gives us the opportunity to advance the bsp ’ s advocacies. in fact, today ’ s theme of “ collaborative approach to regulating fintech ” is exactly how we envision the landscape of overseeing the increasingly disruptive, yet, vibrant narrative of fintech developments. over the past couple of years, innovative solutions through technological advancements have transformed the delivery of financial services by offering alternative and far convenient ways of executing financial transactions. it has empowered the unbanked and underbanked to participate in the economy through easier access to financial services. indeed, fintech players are moving ahead of the curve by developing solutions that aim to expand delivery channels and trim unnecessary processes towards providing greater efficiency and convenience for customers. we, at the bsp, emphasize our support for such endeavors. we view innovators as enablers of financial services that help us boost our financial inclusion agenda. the number of fintech players in the philippines have gradually been growing in the past three years with most, or around 75 % of the total providing payments, alternative financing, and remittance services. 2018, in particular, has been a key period for blockchain and virtual currencie. there has been an increasing amount of bsp supervised financial institutions that have leveraged on fintech to support their business strategies and manage day - to - day business processes. this prompted us to craft appropriate regulations to safeguard public interest while fully recognizing that these technological innovations can contribute to a more inclusive and safe financial ecosystem. our approach to regulating fintechs is shaped by three principles, ( a ) first, we ensure that regulation is risk - based, proportionate and fair, ( b ) second, we maintain active multi - stakeholder collaboration, ( c ) and lastly, we ensure that innovations must work for the benefit of consumers, especially the most vulnerable ones. guided by these principles, came the rise of our three - lane fintech roadmap that is crafted to nurture a regulatory environment that allows innovations to flourish, yet still mindful that risks