BSP chief Diokno bags 'Global Central Banker of the Year 2022' award

MANILA, Philippines — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno has been named "Global Central Banker of the Year 2022" by The Banker, a monthly business and finance magazine owned by the Financial Times.

In a statement on Wednesday, the BSP said Diokno was recognized for his efforts to lead the country's chief monetary authority throughout the coronavirus pandemic and recovery from the economic meltdown.

Diokno's actions were best exemplified for his rapid-fire rate cuts back in 2020 in a bid to spur credit activity within the Philippines' spending-dependent economy, and as fiscal response to the pandemic was deemed insufficient. The BSP has left its key rate unmoved at 2% since an aggressive easing episode that ended in November 2020.

Apart from reducing borrowing costs to historic-low, the BSP under Diokno’s watch also further slashed banks’ reserve requirement, increased the single borrowers’ limit and granted credit lines to the national government to partly fund its pandemic response.

Those efforts finally yielded results after bank lending snapped eight straight months of decline back in August 2021, which meant banks saw wider wiggle room to lend to consumers and businesses.

“While the entire world has been affected by the pandemic, the BSP has implemented policy responses to enable the Philippines to adapt to new ways of working, doing business, and living," Diokno said in a statement.

The annual awards, given to central bankers around the world, "celebrate officials who have best managed to stimulate growth and stabilize their economies," the BSP said.

The magazine also deemed Diokno as the 'Asia-Pacific Central Banker of the Year 2022,' handpicked from other award-winning central bankers around the world. Other regional central bank chiefs were recognized as well, namely, Central Reserve Bank of Peru Chairman Julio Velarde for the Americas, Banque de France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau for Europe, Central Bank of Bahrain Governor Rasheed M Al-Maraj for the Middle East, and Bank of Tanzania Governor Florens Luoga for Africa.

"Through his (Diokno) thoughtful foresight, the banking sector was able to successfully navigate and surpass the adverse impact of the crisis allowing the country to achieve positive growth in 2021 despite the continuing threat of the COVID-19 health crisis," the Bankers Association of the Philippines said in their message to Diokno.