Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s economic policy chief has dismissed concerns the new administration in the Philippines will be prone to the corruption and mismanagement that proliferated under the president-elect’s father.
Benjamin Diokno, who serves as the country’s central bank governor and is set to become finance secretary pending confirmation next month, also said the Philippines was positioned to grow its way out of the debt it incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic and would not need to raise taxes in the administration’s first year in office.
“My appointment itself is a sign that there will be a major departure from the accusation that there will be cronyism,” Diokno, a veteran economist and policymaker, told the Financial Times.
He said Marcos Jr “has put in place a team that is not political and I don’t see any hint of cronyism. I am very confident that he wants to put up a team that will really solve many of our problems involving poverty, involving the economy, involving our debt problem.”