MANILA - Seasoned economist Felipe Medalla will take the helm of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Medalla has been a member of the BSP's Monetary Board since July 2011.

He has also served as Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) from 1998 to 2001 during the administration of former President Joseph Estrada.

He will replace and serve the remaining term of incumbent BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno who has been designated as Finance secretary.

Medalla holds a PhD in economics. He served as Dean of the University of the Philippines School of Economics as well as Vice President for Planning and Finance of the UP System.

The central bank said the seasoned economist has written papers on the effects of economic policies on poverty and problems in the measurement of Philippine economic growth, among others.

ARRESTING INFLATION, ECONOMIC WOES

The Marcos administration faces the challenge of keeping the country's economy expanding while dealing with soaring inflation and debt.

The Philippines' debt-to-GDP is at 63.5 percent while inflation hit 5.4 percent in April.

• Inflation quickens further to 5.4 percent in May

The era of easy money, which was necessary to keep the economy afloat during the pandemic, is also ending, with many central banks raising rates to tame inflation.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Medalla signaled there could be 2 more rate hikes by August as inflation continues to accelerate.

The BSP earlier hiked interest rate by another 25-basis points to 2.50 percent.

• BSP hikes interest rate to 2.25 percent as inflation accelerates