Tetangco: 3rd term as BSP governor would be an ‘honor’

BSP Gov. Amando M. Tetangco Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

For Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr., it will be ultimately up to Congress if it will allow him to serve an unprecedented third term taking charge of the country’s monetary policy.

“I don’t want to preempt what the legislators are going to decide on. Let’s cross the bridge when we get there,” Tetangco told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the Security Bank Economic Forum 2016 when asked if he would agree to stay on as BSP chief if plans to amend its charter pushed through.

“It’s really an honor to get that offer for the third term and I share this honor with the officers and staff of the BSP. But under the BSP Charter, the governor is allowed for only one reappointment. I had that in 2011. I was first appointed in 2005,” Tetangco explained. As such, Tetangco’s term will end in July next year.

“Congress is now deliberating on amendments to the BSP charter. So they are still in that process and I don’t want to preempt our legislators. But what I can say is that the BSP has, over the years, been able to develop itself into a world-class monetary authority that is able to deliver its mandate of maintaining price stability and maintaining financial stability, at the same time allowing the banks to provide the necessary credit to support economic growth. And I think this is going to continue,” Tetangco said.

“So whoever is appointed as next governor, he will have the support of a committed, competent team in the BSP,” he added.

Tetangco said he has yet to talk to President Duterte about the proposal, although Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has been the one convincing him to stay put. Dominguez heads Duterte’s economic team.

In September, New York-based banking magazine Global Finance awarded  Tetangco his eighth “A” grade in its annual scorecard for central bank governors’ handling of their nations’ respective economies.