*  *  *  Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, Honorable Members of the Philippine Congress, Members of the Cabinet, leaders of the Philippine banking sector, representatives of our partner organizations, fellow workers in government, special guests good evening. On behalf of the Members of the Monetary Board, I welcome all of you to our traditional Annual Reception for the Banking Community.
Personal saving--which is measured in the U.S. National Income and Product Accounts as the difference between disposable income and outlays--dropped from 6-1/2 percent of disposable  BIS Review 100/2001  1  income at the end of 1994 to roughly 1 percent in early 2000, when equity prices peaked.