Finally, the weakening or full collapse of the banking systems in a number of the afflicted economies has had a major impact on the global banking sector. Not even financial institutions in the major industrial countries have been immune to this problem.
On behalf of the Members of the Monetary Board, I welcome all of you to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the launching of the 2008 Microentrepreneur of the Year Awards. Ladies and gentlemen. This is the sixth year we are mounting this search for the best microentrepreneurs in our country.