Philippines' Duterte wants central bank governor to stay past legal limit

[MANILA] Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wants the country's central bank governor to serve another six years beyond July 2017, the date when by law his tenure must end, the finance secretary said on Tuesday.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco is nearing the end of his second six-year term of office. The law limits the number of terms Monetary Board members can serve to two.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said in a mobile phone message that he has been authorised to speak to Mr Tetangco about the offer for the governor to serve a third term.

Mr Duterte's spokesman, Ernesto Abella, did not say how this might be done, given the legal impediment.

Mr Tetangco, 64, joined the central bank in 1974. He had a heart bypass operation in early 2010.

Asked by Reuters, he had no immediate comment on the offer that he stay beyond July 2017.

The governor has been credited by analysts and economists with presiding over a central bank that helped make the Philippines one of the world's fastest growing economies.

In 2008 and 2009, the BSP utilised available monetary tools to help cushion the impact of the global financial crisis that battered many economies.

The Philippine central bank, which uses an inflation targeting model to set policy, has kept policy settings steady since a 25 basis point hike in September 2014.

REUTERS