By Joann Villanueva/PNA
MANILA – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said that while he is not a central banker, he is more suited to his current job than others who came from private banks.
In his last briefing Wednesday as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary, Diokno said his experience as an economist, he has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, among others provides him the know-how of monetary policy regulation.
He also said that not being a politician is also a plus.
He explained that appointing a banker as BSP chief is equivalent to “appointing one of the boys.”
“You don’t want a banker as a central bank Governor because then you appoint one of the boys to the central bank and that’s bad for the economy,” he said.
“The prerogative to appoint the governor is the President’s so I do not question his decision. And nobody should,” he said.
Diokno was appointed last Monday to succeed BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., who succumbed to cancer on February 23.
Relatively, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, after his talk at The Manila Times economic forum in Makati Wednesday, said Diokno’s appointment as BSP Governor, which also makes him Chairman of the seven-man policy-making Monetary Board (MB), is not politically-motivated.
“There is no plan or no effort to takeover or influence their decisions,” he said.
Dominguez said the BSP staff and executives who attend the meetings of the MB, which he is part of as representative of the national government, are world-class.
He said MB members and their staff “look at the data, they make their recommendations and the MB looks at these recommendations and they make a decision.”
Meanwhile, BSP, in a statement Wednesday, said it “fully supports” the appointment of Diokno, the fifth BSP governor.
“He brings with him a special brand of leadership honed from decades of exposure to different facets of government operations to improve the lives of Filipinos, in cooperation with the private sector, the academe, and various organizations,” BSP OIC Cyd Tuano-Amador said.
“The BSP community looks forward to his assumption into office tomorrow, Thursday, and to working closely with him to ensure the smooth functioning of the central bank to effectively discharge its mandate to promote price and financial stability, to ensure a safe, reliable and efficient payments system as well as to help sustain economic growth that is inclusive and participatory,” she added.
