We expect to expand the number of participating banking institutions by 7 more banks today here in La Union and by an additional 11 banks in Davao when we launch this system next month. These should bring the overall number of participating entities to 130 banks.
Overall, it is estimated that the increase in import penetration from low-cost countries over this period may have dampened euro area import prices for manufactured goods by an average of approximately 2 percentage points each year, an effect almost equally accounted for by China and the new EU member states.