DOF highlights outgoing chief Diokno’s accomplishments

Outgoing Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno is turning over the helm of the Department of Finance (DOF) to Ralph Recto, currently a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, on Friday as the agency looked back on some of its incumbent chief’s accomplishments in nearly two years.

In a statement, the DOF said Diokno would pass on the Finance Department to Recto on “solid footing.”

After months of speculation, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) confirmed Recto's appointment as DOF Secretary. He would be sworn in on Friday afternoon.

Recto’s wife, former Batangas 6th District Representative Vilma Santos-Recto was the first to confirm her husband’s appointment to the Finance portfolio.

The DOF, meanwhile, said Diokno, since taking over the agency in 2022, had committed himself to pursuing the Marcos Jr. administration’s overarching goals of reducing the deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3%, achieving upper middle-income status by 2025, and bringing down poverty incidence to single-digits by the end of the President’s term.

The agency said Diokno led the economic team in crafting the Philippines’ first-ever Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) during the administration’s first month in office.

The MTFF embodied the government’s commitment to pursuing fiscal consolidation, ensuring that sustainability was prioritized in the management of finances without sacrificing economic growth. Improving revenue generation and boosting government spending were at the core of the MTFF.

Diokno, for his part, said, “I am pleased to announce that I will be turning over my seat as Finance Secretary to Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto.”

“I am proud knowing that I will be leaving my post at a time when the Philippine economy, in general, and the DOF, in particular, are in a better state of affairs than when I inherited them,” said Diokno.

Among the major accomplishments of the economic team under Diokno’s leadership was the trimming of the debt-to-GDP ratio to 60.2% in the third quarter of 2023 —below the full-year target of 61.2% for 2023, “signaling the overall effectiveness of the fiscal consolidation program,” according to the DOF.

Moreover, the Finance Department said the Philippines’ external debt-to-GDP ratio was only 28.1% as of the third quarter of 2023, the lowest among ASEAN-5 countries based on the latest available data —Indonesia at 28.9%, Malaysia at 69%, while Thailand was at 38.4%.

The Philippines was able to maintain its investor-grade credit ratings amid a sea of downgrades in other economies globally.

Move to BSP Monetary Board

In a separate statement, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said she is supporting Recto’s appointment as Finance Secretary.

Pangandaman also disclosed that Diokno, who was governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) before his stint as DOF chief, would return to the central bank as a member of the policy-setting Monetary Board.

"We defer to the wisdom of the President on these matters so as the latest appointee of PBBM to the Economic Team, Sec. Recto can expect our full support," said Pangandaman.

The Budget chief also thanked the outgoing Diokno, whom she described as “the guiding light of the Philippine Economic Team.”

Pangandaman noted that it was Diokno's vision to craft the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework on which the administration anchored the Agenda for Prosperity, which was then adopted for the first time by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

"Sec. Diokno established a very good foundation for our economic transformation so I am confident we can continue this under Sec. Recto, who is a legislator with Executive branch experience and can merge these experiences to pursue our desired reforms," she said.

For his part, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said he supported Recto's appointment to the helm of the DOF.

Balisacan said that NEDA looked forward to working with Recto to realize the government's goal of securing a better future for Filipinos through sustained economic growth and inclusion.

Secretary Balisacan also thanked Diokno for his unwavering service as the head of the Marcos Administration's economic team during the past year and a half. — DVM, GMA Integrated News