lesson we have learned from microfinance : our borrowers may be poor, but they have good paying habits! repayment rates for microfinance loans in the philippines are hitting as much as 98 %! nobel peace price awardee muhammad yunus of bangladesh is another case in point. if you recall, mr. yunus parlayed his microfinance model into the successful grameen bank, with a total loan portfolio of $ 6 billion for 7 million borrowers. in other words, he has proven repeatedly … that the entrepreneurial poor are bankable. he said : “ conventional banks look for the rich ; we look for the absolutely poor. all people are entrepreneurs, but many don't have the opportunity to find that out. ” providing credit access to smes is another challenge. according to the ups survey of sme competitiveness in asia, philippine smes consider access to funding and working capital as obstacles to their competitiveness. i hope therefore that cmap will find ways to help address these concerns. on our part, we at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas have launched electronic rediscounting to spur lending activities down to the countryside and also to lower transaction costs of banks. with erediscounting, banks may conduct their rediscounting transactions with the bsp in an online, realtime basis from their own bank premises. at the same time, the system allows bsp to process rediscounting applications within 10 minutes, release loan proceeds on line, and accept online payments for banks ’ rediscounting obligations. in addition, the bsp is advocating the passage of the corporate recovery act to update the insolvency law by putting in place procedures for liquidation, and thereby strengthen the framework for quick resolution of financially - distressed enterprises. this should balance the rights of creditors visa - vis debtors. i hope cmap will support this as well. another area for cooperation with cmap is financial education. in this regard, i am pleased to inform you that the bangko sentral and the department of education are principal partners in the incorporation of money management in elementary curriculum. the earlier children can learn about money management, the better. the bangko sentral is also conducting money management seminars for ofws and their dependents. we believe that learning the basics of money and credit management can help filipinos make smart decisions that will transform them into net savers and investors, fostering in the

there is no international consensus on the appropriate width of the corridor, a narrow corridor provides clearer guidance for the market and also helps to limit volatility in short - term interest rates. by introducing auction - type instruments, the irc system is intended to ensure more equitable access for all participants. in addition, we hope to ultimately aid in the development and deepening of the country ’ s capital and money markets. over time, as more liquidity is absorbed by the bsp, market participants will be encouraged to be more active and more prudent in managing their own day - to - day and short - term liquidity positions. it is our hope that, in the process, we will encourage counterparties to reduce their reliance on central bank facilities and instead transact more with each other through interbank markets, in order to meet liquidity requirements. the more immediate benefit of the new auction - type instruments under the irc is that the price discovery process will be facilitated by the bids we receive from market participants, which will by june 3, all rrps under the current facility would have matured and all term placements under sda would have been wound down to give way to the new facilities under the irc. bis central bankers ’ speeches provide information for the bsp and for the market on the prevailing cost of and demand for liquidity. in turn, better price discovery will allow the industry to establish more accurate interest rate benchmarks in the future. ladies and gentlemen, let me emphasize that the new irc system is not a departure from the bsp ’ s current monetary policy framework. in fact, the irc system is envisioned to further support the inflation targeting framework by reinforcing the bsp ’ s policy stance as represented by the overnight reverse repurchase rate that will remain our key policy rate. more importantly, the shift to the irc system does not represent a change in the bsp ’ s stance of monetary policy. the irc reforms are primarily operational in nature and will not materially affect prevailing monetary policy settings upon implementation. at the same time, short - term liquidity conditions are expected to remain broadly unchanged, as funds will continue to be absorbed through monetary operations under the new irc system. moreover, the rate adjustments in the bsp ’ s instruments under the irc system remain consistent with the outlook for inflation and growth. our current domestic environment of manageable inflation, a stable financial sector and firm economic growth prospects affords us