QUEZON CITY, Philippines—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is keen on engaging every household to participate in a balanced economic growth and development through its micro-financing program.

“Apart from promoting economic growth, we also want an economy that is inclusive, broad-based and participatory in order to achieve a balanced economy so that everybody would experience the fruits of development,” BSP Assistant Governor Almasara Cyd Amador said in Filipino during a media forum.

Amador said this can be achieved through the central bank’s microfinance program where an estimated one million Filipinos have already participated.

“More than 200 banks are also participating,” Amador said.

In 2000, the General Banking Law mandated the BSP to recognize microfinance as a legitimate banking activity and to set the rules and regulations for its practice within the banking sector.

Microfinance is the provision of a broad range of financial services such as deposits, loans, payment services, money transfers and insurance products to the poor and low-income households and their microenterprises.

BSP’s flagship program for poverty alleviation, micro-financing is aimed at helping poor households and micro-entrepreneurs gain access to micro-financial services.

“One of our management’s advocacy is financial education. We believe that if we could teach the people the right way of spending, then we would achieve financial freedom,” said Assistant Governor Amador referring to microfinance as their way of reaching out to the people.

If provided on a sustainable basis, microfinance can help increase the income of the people, build viable businesses, reduce vulnerability to external shocks, empower and improve the quality of their lives.