About bank

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is the Central Bank of the Philippines, commonly abbreviated to BSP. Its headquarters is at the BSP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila, Philippines. The BSP was incorporated on 3 July 1993, according to Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act of 1993 (as amended by Republic Act 11211 or the New Central Bank Act).

Features

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is the central bank of the Republic of the Philippines. It was established on 3 July 1993 under the Philippine Constitution of 1987 and the New Central Bank Act of 1993. The BSP took over the functions of the Central Bank of the Philippines, which was established on 3 January 1949 as the country's central monetary authority.

BSPs enjoy financial and administrative autonomy from the central government in performing their mandated functions such as liquidity management, issuing the national currency, supervision of other financial institutions, managing and maintaining all foreign currency reserves, determining exchange rate policies, and more.

The bank actively promotes financial inclusion policies and is a senior Alliance for Financial Inclusion member. It was also one of the first 17 regulatory bodies to make specific national commitments on financial inclusion under the Maya Declaration at the 2011 Global Policy Forum in Mexico.

Pros and cons

The BSP offers several services to its users across the nation. Here are a few pros and cons of this institution.

Pros

• They offer 24/7 customer service with the use of their BSP online buddy.

• They maintain a healthy level of international reserves to support liquidity during periods of exchange rate and balance of payments volatility.

• They provide an enabling policy and regulatory environment.

Cons

• They are more focused on the business sector.

• They are only trying to encourage and defend the development of sustainable microfinance businesses.

Products

Below are some of the products and services issued by the BSP.

Liquidity management

BSP manages liquidity through the formulation and implementation of monetary policy to influence the money supply, in line with the primary objective of maintaining price stability.

Issuing of currency

BSP has the exclusive authority to issue its currency. All banknotes and coins issued by BSP are fully insured by the government and are considered legal tender for all private and public debt.

Lenders of last resort

BSP provides discounts, credits, and loans to banking institutions for liquidity. BSP is also tasked with supervising banks and exercising regulatory powers over non-banking institutions that perform bank-like functions.

Managing foreign exchange reserves

BSP manages all foreign exchange reserves in the Philippines. They do this by maintaining international reserves sufficient to meet all foreseeable net foreign exchange needs to maintain global stability and convertibility of the Philippine peso.

Exchange rate policy decision making

BSP makes all currency policy decisions in the Philippines. BSP is currently pursuing a market-oriented exchange rate policy.

Governmental duties

BSP functions as a banker, financial advisor, and official depositary of the government, its political departments, government agencies, and the GOCC.