Magazine names Tetangco ‘central banker of the year’

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.

Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was named “Central Banker of the Year” for Asia Pacific by the foreign business magazine The Banker.

The Banker cited favorable developments in the Philippine economy, which were partly attributed to policies made by the BSP, in choosing Tetangco as the best central bank head in the region for 2012.

“The Philippine economy has performed strongly in the past year, and its growth in the third quarter of 2012 was the second fastest in Asia after China,” said the Banker, which is part of the Financial Times group.

The publication likewise cited credit-rating upgrades that the Philippines enjoyed over the past two years that have brought the country’s ratings to just one notch below investment grade.

“The sound monetary policy of the BSP and its governor, Amando Tetangco Jr., have contributed to these improvements that have recently pushed the Philippines into the spotlight,” The Banker said.

Other central bankers recognized by the publication as best in their regions were: Turkey’s Erdem Basci, also named the best globally, for Europe; Canada’s Mark Carney for the Americas; Angola’s Jose Massano for Africa; and Saudi Arabia’s Fahad al-Mubarak for the Middle East.

The accolade from The Banker is the third received by Tetangco in the last five months.

Global Finance Magazine recently gave Tetangco a rating of “A” along with five other central bank governors, saying he is one of the best central bank heads in the world.

Emerging Markets, which is part of the Euromoney group, named Tetangco as the central bank governor of the year for Asia for 2012.

It said that under Tetangco’s leadership, the BSP “has managed monetary policy with considerable skill, not least given the twin threats of China slowdown and spillover from the Euro zone crisis.”