, the philippines had a record 21 - year uninterrupted growth. in fact, the economy has started to bounce back as businesses reopen following the easing of restrictions and the onset of the vaccination program. higher consumer spending, infrastructural push, accommodative monetary policy, and global recovery will be the main sources of the recovery. government authorities forecast that the economy will grow within the range of 6. 5 to 7. 5 percent for this year and 8 - 10 percent in 2022. while inflation will be elevated in the first half of 2020 due to supply side factors, we see it settling 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches within the target range by the end of 2021 as the impact of supply - side factors subside. overall external position remains healthy. the country ’ s gross international reserves ( gir ), which totaled usd108. 7 billion as of endjanuary 2021, are hefty. they are equivalent to 11. 6 months ’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. this is well above the ideal three months ’ worth of imports cover requirement. domestic liquidity or m3 posted a 9. 0 percent annual growth to about ₱14. 0 trillion in january 2021. the money supply increased mainly on account of the simultaneous expansion in domestic claims and net foreign assets ( nfa ) by 5. 0 percent and 21. 8 percent, respectively. while remittances from overseas filipinos posted a contraction of 0. 8 percent in 2020, the same is actually good news since it is much better than the two - digit decline forecasted by many analysts. we expect of remittances to grow by 4. 0 percent this year. the philippine peso recorded an average of ₱48. 65 / usd1 as of 1 march 2021, making it one of the strongest currencies in the world amid the pandemic. the country ’ s strong macroeconomic fundamentals, low debt - to - gdp ratio, build - up of gross international reserve, and resilient banking system are expected to further boost the strength of the local currency. in sum, these numbers suggest a resilient philippine economy. even before the pandemic, we had a long history of structural reforms and prudent macroeconomic policies, which paved the way for the build - up of ample capital and liquidity buffers in the banking sector. during the pandemic, the

and the agri - agra bill, which will address the existing challenges of the agricultural sector on access to finance. this important legislation will nurture economic recovery and provide a more stable financial system. indeed, the pandemic has rapidly reshaped, not only the financial system, but most importantly the way we interact and how we do business. as a result of the pandemic, we have seen an increased use of digital platforms. we are fortunate to have started the digitalization process even before the pandemic. the pesonet and instapay platforms have proven its value and reliability, especially at the height of strict movement restrictions, as it allowed a safe and convenient environment for interbank fund transfers and payments. in fact, we have seen a dramatic surge in the volume and value of pesonet and instapay transactions in 2020. the volume of pesonet transactions surged by 1, 582 percent while the value of transactions increased to p366. 6 billion as of end - 2020. similarly, the volume of instapay transactions rose exponentially to 30. 6 million as of enddecember 2020 from just 1, 740 in april 2018. the total value of instapay transactions reached p176. 5 billion in december 2020 from p20 million in april 2018. we also launched the digital payments transformation roadmap with the twofold objectives of ( 1 ) increasing the share of digital payments to at least 50. 0 percent of total volume of retail transactions, and ( 2 ) onboarding 70. 0 percent of filipino adults to have formal financial accounts by 2023. the bsp joins the international community in its call for climate change and sustainable finance and is championing the promotion of the sustainability agenda in the financial system. we have issued the sustainable finance framework for banks in april 2020. this emphasizes the role of the board of directors in leading and institutionalizing the adoption of sustainability principles across the organization. aside from the broad principles set out in the said framework with respect to the adoption of an environment and social ( e & s ) risk management system, we will be issuing more granular expectations covering the interplay of e & s risks and the key risk areas such as credit, market, and operational risks. internally, we are embracing sustainability principles as we formally launched the sustainable central banking program. this is, in fact, one of the strategic priorities of the bsp from 2020 – 2023. bsp will