benjamin e diokno : fighting money laundering and terrorism financing speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the anti - money laundering council's 19th anniversary, 20 october 2020. * * * ladies and gentlemen of the amlc secretariat. good afternoon to everyone. i am delighted to be with you today on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the amlc. this year, we celebrate under unprecedented circumstances. not only are we allies in fighting money laundering and terrorism financing, but, along with the rest of the world, we are fighting an invisible but deadly virus. the covid - 19 pandemic has caused us grief and fear, both as individuals and as a nation. but it has also compelled us to address our weaknesses and to shift our assumptions and biases toward fresh, if not better, possibilities. though the pandemic has brought the world to a slowdown and even to a halt, during the first few months, the amlc soldiered on against money laundering and terrorism financing. and we have the following milestones to show for it. first — as the pandemic has presented an opportunity for money launderers and other criminals — the amlc initiated and conducted an analysis of the financial crime landscape, covering a period of the pandemic and using suspicious transaction reports ( strs ) submitted by covered persons. the amlc ’ s “ covid - 19 financial crime trend analysis and typologies brief ” has since been disseminated to supervising agencies, appropriate government agencies, law enforcement agencies, several financial intelligence units, and public - private partnership program partners. the report has also been shared with the asia pacific group on money laundering and the financial action task force ( fatf ) ; and a redacted version has been made available online. an update of the study, which expands the data set, will soon be released as well. it is interesting to note that one of the top reasons for str filing, based on the study, are associated with violations of the anti - child pornography act of 2009. child exploitation - related strs increased in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. this increase may be primarily due to the amlc ’ s 2019 study on online child sexual abuse and exploitation ( csae ). the amlc ’ s supplemental study on the online sexual exploitation of children observes that its 2019 study on csa

this but 40 % of our budget goes to social services. our growth story has been supported by structural and policy reforms in the economy for around three decades. these reforms enable growth by expanding the role of market forces in key sectors of the economy ; encouraging investments and private sector activity ; removing bottlenecks to doing business and investments in the country ; and strengthening the country ’ s fiscal position and the financial sector. these, and other structural reforms in the pipeline, will continue to play a significant role in propelling the economy toward a balanced, sustainable, and inclusive growth. in addition, recently approved legislation — such as the bsp charter amendments, philippine identification system ( philsys ) act, national payment systems act and the gold law — allow us to pursue our mandate with more vigor and in effect, enable us to espouse the interests and uplift the lives of all filipinos. so what is the role of bsp in the philippines ’ growth narrative? our mandate is clear : “ maintain price stability conducive to a balanced and sustainable growth of the economy and employment. ” our objective in the bsp is to protect the real purchasing power of the peso to support conditions for long - term economic growth. with your presence in this annual corporate planning and budgeting process summit, i know you are fully aware of the importance of efficient allocation of resources. as a central banker, i would argue that price stability is closely linked with financial efficiency. if the prices are low and stable, financial planners are better equipped to allocate resources to their most efficient use. lesser price volatilities would also enable us to anticipate risks and plan better. and with our amended bsp charter, we are now in a better position to implement sound policies to promote and maintain price stability, a strong financial system, and a safe and efficient 2 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches payments and settlements system. in terms of price developments, we are on track to achieving our inflation target of 2 to 4 percent for 2019. to give you some context, our june inflation declined to 2. 7 percent from 3. 2 percent in may, the lowest inflation recorded in more than 20 months since august 2017. later this morning, the philippine statistics authority ( psa ) will announce the average percentage of inflation for july. my forecast is that it will settle within the range of 2. 2 – 2. 8 percent. this sits comfortably within the government ’ s target band, in line