Monetary board member Eli Remolona is named Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor when economist and academician Felipe Medalla ends his term in less than two weeks.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced Remolona’s appointment in a statement issued by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), saying the former Bank of International Settlements (BIS) takes over from Medalla whose term formally ends on July 3 this year.
“Remolona’s expertise extends beyond the academia, as he heads various positions of high importance in the financial industry,” the President noted.
As BIS official, Remolona served as chief representative for Asia and the Pacific at the BSI, often referred to as the central bank of central banks.
His tenure as chief monetary policy craftsman comes at a time when central banks around the world are reigning in elevated inflation with high interest rates and endeavor to succeed in boosting local output growth measured as the gross domestic product (GDP).
In the case of the Philippines, Remolona succeeds Medalla whose last two policy decisions were a stay on the rate at which the BSP borrows from the banks at 6.25 percent, the same rate the various banks use to price their loan products for businesses and households.
Medalla is confident the monetary policy response he and other members of the monetary board is sufficient to address still elevated price pressures presented by geopolitical conflict and supply chain disruptions, among other factors.
This confidence is best manifested by their collective decision to reduce the banks’ deposit reserve ratio whose practical impact releases an estimated P75 billion worth of otherwise inflation-adding liquidity in the financial system when the adjustments take effect at the end of the month.
