Teves is Asia's best finance minister - The Banker

MANILA, Philippines - Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves has been named "Best Finance Minister" in Asia, a title given by London-based international finance magazine, The Banker. The recognition is published on the January 2009 issue of The Banker, which is part of the Financial Times group. The magazine is on its eighth year of giving the award. In his letter of notification to Teves, The Banker finance editor Philip Alexander said the decision on choosing the best finance minister is a result of a survey conducted with economists and bankers "and therefore represents a real vote of confidence by the markets." "Survey respondents mentioned that, thanks to progressive improvements in revenue collection, lower public debt levels and more stable finances at the state-owned enterprises, the Philippines has entered the current global credit crunch in a much less vulnerable position than during the past financial crises," Alexander said. Teves was Land Bank of the Philippines president when he was tasked to be the Finance chief after a mass resignation of the Arroyo administration's economic team in July 2005. Even back then, the former lawmaker already said one of his goals would be to balance the budget by 2008. As early as May last year, however, the Finance department said the goal of balancing the budget needs to be pushed back to the original 2010 target. In November 2008, Teves said "it will be extremely difficult to balance the budget in 2010 because of the changing circumstances" in the global economic arena. In the latest issue of The Banker where an article on Teves is featured, the Finance chief was quoted saying," Our original goal of a balanced budget will be deferred, as the priority now is to stimulate the economy and keep people employed." He added that the deficit will remain within 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product, or the value of goods and services produced by the country, as the government is still repaying its debts. For his part, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza congratulated his fellow Cabinet member for the award. “This is in recognition of the economic team’s collective effort and especially that of President Arroyo under whose leadership economic reforms have been instituted that thankfully have prepared us to face the global economic crisis with some amount of confidence," Dureza said in a text message. - GMANews.TV