Purisima named finance minister of the year

TOKYO – Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has been named Finance Minister of the Year for 2012 by global business magazine Euromoney for successfully steering the Philippine economy.

“Purisima has worked closely with President Aquino to champion the idea that good governance is good economics,” Euromoney said.

“He has unleashed an unforgiving strategy to combat tax evasion and maximize revenue from corporates without introducing any new taxes or reforms,” said one of the leading global and finance publications.

“Our sources report a real and positive view of the Philippines and cite the leadership and decision making that you have shown as a key factor in this sentiment,” Euromoney editor Clive Horwood said.

Euromoney handed the award to Purisima on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Annual Meetings.

The plum shows the recognition for the programs of the Aquino administration, Purisima told The STAR after the awarding ceremonies.

“We will continue to implement the programs of the President. We are not yet there but the important thing is we are pointed in the right direction and the pace of change is accelerating,” Purisima said.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement sent from Tokyo, Purisima also recognized distinguished men and women in government.

“It has been a tremendous honor to join them in this journey and I share this recognition with them. I’d like to especially recognize Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares who has the unenviable task of collecting almost a trillion pesos in taxes to finance government priorities, as well as Budget Secretary Butch Abad who has the equally unenviable task of selecting which among the many priorities we will finance,” he said.

Finally, he shared the award with his colleagues at the Department of Finance.

“I am only one in an enterprise of many. It is the hard work of each and every one that enables us to reach greater heights,” he said.

Purisima joins the last three winners of the award by the same publication: Jim Flaherty of Canada in 2009; Russia’s Alexei Kudrin in 2010; and Wayne Swan of Australia in 2011.

In 2011, Purisima was also named Finance Minister of the Year for Asia by London-based financial news source Emerging Markets.

President Aquino appointed Purisima as finance secretary in July 2010.

He was previously appointed as trade secretary in 2004 and as finance secretary in 2005 during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. 

Prior to this, he headed one of the country’s biggest auditing firms, Sycip, Gorres & Velayo.

As finance chief, Purisima implemented a heightened campaign against smugglers and tax evaders.

He has instructed the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to regularly file cases before the Department of Justice against tax evaders and smugglers, respectively.

He also pushed for more peso-denominated borrowing instead of dollar-denominated debt to cushion the economy from foreign exchange fluctuations.

Purisima is also one of the brains behind the Aquino administration’s public-private partnership (PPP) program for infrastructure.