Espenilla gets B+ in central banker report card

BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. got the third-highest rating for his first year as central bank chief, with the Global Finance magazine touting sustained economic growth while noting the weaker peso and a wider trade gap as setbacks.

Mr. Espenilla received a “B+” grade from the New York-based publication. Global Finance releases an annual report card for central bankers, with the 2018 scores printed in their October edition.

This is the first time the magazine graded Mr. Espenilla after he assumed the post in July 2017, with the publication saying it was “too early to tell” during the previous year’s grading period. Prior to this, Mr. Espenilla was deputy governor for the Supervision and Examination Sector in charge of regulating banks and financial firms.

Global Finance covers 89 central bank governors around the world, with the highest rating of “A” given to the best-performing monetary authorities with “F” marking the lowest. They are judged based on their hand on inflation control, economic growth, currency stability and interest-rate management, as well as their ability to “protect independence” amid political pressure as well as financial supervision.

In grading Mr. Espenilla, Global Finance took stock of the BSP’s two tightening moves in May and June worth 25 basis points (bp) each.

“The BSP said its actions were designed to safeguard macroeconomic stability in an environment of rising commodity prices and ongoing normalization of monetary policy in advanced economies,” the magazine said. •