crisis or no crises, filipinos abroad continue to send remittances to their families at home. it would appear that ofw remittances have an altruistic character. furthermore, the adverse impact of covid - 19 on remittances may be temporary. to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and ensure economic recovery post - covid - 19, the ng laid out a 4 - pillar socioeconomic strategy. the bsp ’ s contributions to the overall stabilization efforts fall under the third pillar. we expect that the economy will recover more strongly once fiscal and monetary stimulus gain traction and workers and firms resume operations. we expect a u - shaped recovery for the philippine economy once the fiscal and monetary stimulus measures gain traction over the next few months. in support of the government ’ s efforts toward a rapid economic recovery, the bsp implemented a package of extraordinary measures to ensure sufficient liquidity in the system as well as provide regulatory relief to financial institutions. these measures include : 1 ) reduction in the monetary policy rate by 125 - basis points since the start of the year ; 2 ) reduction in the reserve requirement ratio by 200 basis points ; 3 ) purchases of government securities ( gs ) in the secondary market ; 4 ) reduction in the overnight reserve repurchase ( rrp ) volume offering ; 5 ) engaging in repurchase agreement with the national government amounting to p300 billion ; and 6 ) approval of a package of measures to further reduce the financial burden on loans to micro, 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches small and medium enterprises ( msme ), which would help hasten the sector ’ s recovery. the assistance directed to msmes could also enable these entities to extend support to displaced ofws who are planning to shift and engage in business operations. in addition, the bsp has remitted p20 billion as advanced dividends to the national government ( ng ). under our newly - amended charter, the bsp is no longer required to remit at least 50 % of its net income as dividends to the national government, but we decided to do so in the spirit of being part of the government. the monetary board has also approved the granting of temporary regulatory and rediscounting relief measures to bsp supervised financial institutions ( bsfis ). some of these measures include relaxation of bsp regulations such as the single borrower ’ s limit ( from 25 % to 30 % ) to allow bsfis to

news conference on new banknotes berne, 3 september 2019 fritz zurbrugg introductory remarks by fritz zurbrugg ladies and gentlemen i am very pleased to welcome you to our presentation of the new 100 - franc note, the last denomination of the ninth banknote series to be issued. to mark the final milestone in this challenging project, as well as inviting the media we also have some guests here who were heavily involved in developing and producing the new banknote series. it gives me great pleasure to welcome representatives from our suppliers orell fussli, landqart, sicpa and kurz. i am going to start by unveiling the hotly anticipated 100 - franc note, before showing you the full series, with all six denominations together for the first time. my colleague thomas jordan will then review the issuance process for the entire new series, before looking to the future. after that, we will take your questions on the new 100 - franc note, and the ninth series in general. we do of course have all the denominations here with us, so that you can take photos of both the 100 - franc note and the entire series. finally, we will round off today ’ s event with a drinks reception, to which you are all warmly invited. but let ’ s start by unveiling the last denomination in the new banknote series. voila, the new 100 - franc note. i ’ ll now take you through the details of the new note. like its predecessor, the new 100 - franc note is blue. and, as with all the other denominations in the new series, it is narrower and shorter than the previous note. the theme of the 100 - franc note is switzerland ’ s humanitarian tradition, and the key motif is water. both are reflected in the note ’ s core design elements. the hand and the globe are the main images on the front of the note. the hands are scooping up water, and isobars are depicted over the globe. page 1 / 3 berne, 3 september 2019 fritz zurbrugg news conference on new banknotes the back of the note shows an irrigation channel, or ‘ suone ’, feeding glacial meltwater down a cliff face to the fields below. a suone is a method of transporting water from high altitudes to lower - lying areas for irrigation purposes. in the past, such irrigation channels were used for land cultivation, especially in the valais region.