Former Department of Finance secretary Benjamin Diokno returned to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as a full-time member of the Monetary Board (MB) effective Jan. 15, 2024.
Diokno continues his service at the MB after chairing it as BSP Governor from March 2019 to June 2022 and representing the government sector as an ex-officio MB member when he was DOF secretary from July 2022 to January 2024. He completes the MB which has seven members.
The MB is headed by BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. as chairman. The other MB members are V. Bruce Tolentino, Anita Linda Aquino, Romeo Bernardo, Rosalia De Leon and a member of the Cabinet designated by the President.
Diokno took over as BSP governor in March 2019 with the passing of then BSP governor Nestor Espenilla Jr.
London-based publication The Banker recognized BSP Governor Diokno as “Global Central Banker of the Year” in 2022 after he effectively steered the country’s financial system through the pandemic.
Diokno, as DOF secretary, led the economic team toward three development goals of reducing the deficit-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to pre-pandemic level, bringing down poverty incidence to single-digits and achieving upper-middle-income status by the end of the current administration in 2028.
Before joining the BSP, Diokno served as Budget secretary from 2016 to 2019 and from 1988 to 2001, and as Budget undersecretary from 1986 to 1991.
He is also professor emeritus of the University of the Philippines, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration and Master’s Degrees in Public Administration and Economics. In 2017, UP conferred him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Diokno also holds a PhD in Economics from Syracuse University in New York and a Master of Arts in Political Economy degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
