. 2 percent, deposits by 8. 8 percent, loan portfolio by 2. 6 percent, and net profit by 35. 0 percent. moreover, non - performing loans remain manageable, capitalization stays above the regulatory requirement, and liquidity is ample. following the government ’ s recent shift in strategy to contain covid - 19 — from imposing widearea lockdowns to granular quarantines — there has been a substantial improvement in the country ’ s covid situation. 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches daily confirmed cases stood at 1, 297 last november 18, significantly down from the peak of 26, 303 last september 11. against this backdrop, we expect the economy ’ s recovery to gain more traction. now let me go back to f. i. r. e. first, f for flexibility. the importance of flexibility — the ability to adapt and evolve — has come to fore in efforts to survive and thrive in the crisis. as far as the bsp is concerned, we exhibited flexibility by implementing unorthodox measures to ensure ample liquidity and maintain financial stability at a critical time. we extended short - term loans and remitted dividends in advance to the national government to support its covid - relief measures. we started purchasing government securities in the secondary market. we were also flexible enough to temporarily relax some regulations. the relief afforded to banks encouraged them to help their hard - hit customers as well. for instance, the bsp ’ s move to count loans extended to micro, small, and medium enterprises ( msmes ) as part of banks ’ compliance to the reserve requirement, to lower risk weights for certain msme loans, and to allow staggered booking of loan losses gave incentive for banks to lend. as we recover from the crisis, focus will shift from trying to survive the crisis to navigating the uncertainties of the recovery and post - crisis periods. individuals, organizations, and economies that are able to seize opportunities from the crisis and adapt will be the champions of tomorrow. this is a solid example of flexibility. this brings me to bsp ’ s key agenda : the digital payments transformation roadmap that we launched last year. the roadmap envisions a cash - lite economy where 50 percent of financial transactions are done digitally by 2023. last year, we saw a leap in digital payments to 20 percent of total financial transactions in the country versus only 1 percent in 2013. let me proceed to the next

nestor a espenilla, jr : bsp and baiphil moving mountains - new heights in banking excellence speech by mr nestor a espenilla, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the induction ceremony and general membership meeting of the bankers institute of the philippines ( baiphil ), makati city, 14 july 2017. * * * distinguished monetary board colleagues, juan de zuniga and tony abacan, baiphil president irene arroyo, immediate past president, liza ortiz, other baiphil past presidents, baiphil directors, officers and members, bap president nestor v. tan, bank ceos, my pdic colleagues, esteemed guests, friends, fellow bspers past and present, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon! it is an honor and pleasure to carry on the tradition of inducting the new board members and officers of baiphil. as new bsp governor … [ i assumed the post eleven ( 11 ) days ago ] … it is auspicious that i now address the new leadership of baiphil … on behalf of my colleagues in bsp and the monetary board, let me extend our congratulations. as new leaders, it is natural for us to aspire greater achievements for the teams we lead. this is why i find your theme : “ scaling new heights in banking excellence ” very engaging. the theme is both timely and relevant as we come into our fresh roles and as the financial system evolves. the theme mentions heights. to add imagery to this message, let me take mt. everest as a starting point. everest, known as the roof of the world stands twenty - nine thousand and thirty - five ( 29, 035 ) feet above sea level. this is the ultimate goal of hard - core mountain climbers, the highest of heights. on 29 may 1953, a new zealander, sir edmund hillary and a sherpa, tenzing norgay, successfully climbed mt. everest in the face of great risk. as documented, they were the very first mountain climbers to reach the summit. now, sixty - four ( 64 ) years later, the peak of everest is decidedly less lonely and more than 3, 500 climbers have already reached the top or “ summitted ”. a myriad of things have changed since then. but from the time it was first done to the present day, scaling everest or any mountain