to further develop the domestic capital and foreign exchange ( fx ) markets. we will continue streamlining documentary requirements for fx trade and non - trade transactions. the bsp will likewise issue a circular on fx market governance framework, formalizing policies that promote fair, liquid, and transparent fx market. and we shall continue to pursue meaningful initiatives and partnerships to advance financial education and inclusion, and consumer protection. no one is dropping the ball. the bsp is here with you for the long haul. concluding remarks as you can see, there is much work to be done. so much work. after decades of hard work, we are now at a point when we are set to update the bsp charter to keep up with the rapid global challenges. we collectively thank the administration of president rodrigo roa duterte for taking us to the finish line right in time for the celebration of 70 years of central banking in the philippines. this is truly an institutional milestone. thank you and mabuhay tayong lahat! 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches

it is a good thing we have ample reserves because this is part of our defense against negative global spillovers. in looking at our external accounts, it is important to go beyond just reserves and quarter - to - quarter inflows. it is [ also ] important to look at the current account. the current account, which is how much we borrow abroad and send abroad, is basically the difference between our investments as a country and our savings as a country. in the graph, the red line is savings and the blue line is investments. until recently, we have been saving more than we have been investing, and it has led to a current account surplus. but there is, as you know, an acute shortage of investments. we have started to ramp up our investments, especially in infrastructure. our savings have not yet caught up with that. that is why, in 2022, we saw current account deficit [ increase ] to 4. 4 percent of gdp [ gross domestic product ]. that is not really a bad thing. with productive investments, what will eventually happen is that gdp growth and savings will outpace investments. this will narrow the gap between savings and investments. eventually, savings will exceed investments, and we will have a current account surplus. whatever we borrowed when we had a deficit, we can repay now that we have a surplus. that is a direction we anticipate for the current account. let me now say something about our banking system. as you can see from the picture, despite the tightening [ in monetary policy ], growth has been robust. we have recovered strongly from one of the world's longest and most stringent lockdowns. we have done so faster than most asian countries. for this, i think, we can thank our banking sector as well as the bsp's emphasis on financial stability. the picture on the left shows you the international standard for capital. that is the blue bar. the banks'actual capital, as shown in the yellow bar on the right, far exceeded what international standards say about the capital that banks need to hold. the bars on the right show the liquidity position of the banks. the blue bar shows the international standard for the liquidity of banks, and the yellow bar shows the actual liquidity that banks hold. this gives us confidence that the policy rate adjustments were done without risking financial stability. 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches let me now turn to digitalization. i think, our digitalization