The top grade received by central bank governor Yang Chin-long (???) from Global Finance reflected his steady response to global financial volatility, which kept Taiwan’s financial markets stable, Premier Su Tseng-chang (???) said Thursday.
Led by Yang, Taiwan’s central bank responded appropriately to global financial turmoil caused by such events as trade tensions between the United States and China and the Russian war in Ukraine, Su said, according to Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (???).
That’s why the Taiwanese central bank was awarded a top grade, while central bankers in the U.S., Europe and Japan did not receive the highest marks, Su said, according to Lo.
Su’s praise for Yang’s performance came after Global Finance released its Central Banker Report Cards 2022 on Monday, with Yang getting the highest possible “A” grade.
Since Yang took over from predecessor Perng Fai-nan (???) as central bank governor on Feb. 26, 2018, he has received an “A” grade in the annual central banker report in 2019 and 2020, but was awarded an “A-” in 2021.
The magazine said its “A” to “F grading system is based on success in areas such as controlling inflation, meeting economic growth goals, maintaining currency stability and managing interest rates.
The 2022 central banker report covered central bankers in 96 countries, territories and districts including the European Union, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Bank of Central African States and the Central Bank of West African States.
In addition to Yang, nine other central bankers received an “A” grade: Brazil’s Roberto Campos Neto, China’s Yi Gang (??), India’s Shaktikanta Das, Israel’s Amir Yaron, Paraguay’s José Cantero Sienra, Peru’s Julio Velarde Flores, South Africa’s Lesetja Kganyago, Sweden’s Stefan Ingves, and Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Hong.
“As fears of a global recession take hold around the world, the spotlight is on central bankers to enact policies that help avert this scenario,” Global Finance founder and editorial director Joseph Giarraputo said in a statement.
“Global Finance’s annual Central Banker Report Cards analyze and rate the financial policy leaders that are making the best decisions and those that need to improve.”
Ten other central bankers received an “A-” grade in the 2022 report. They were Bulgaria’s Dimitar Radev, Colombia’s Leonardo Villar Gómez, Egypt’s Tarek Amer, Georgia’s Koba Gvenetadze, Mauritius’s Harvesh Kumar Seegolam, Morocco’s Abdellatif Jouahri, New Zealand’s Adrian Orr, the Philippines’s Benjamin Diokno, Saudi Arabia’s Fahad al-Mubarak, and Uruguay’s Diego Labat.
In response, Yang said Taiwan has enjoyed a healthy economic performance with relatively low inflation, and those achievements are the result of efforts made by all of Taiwan’s people as well as the government and central bank workers.
Last week, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) slightly lowered its forecast for Taiwan’s 2022 gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 0.15 percentage points to 3.76 percent in the wake of weaker exports and a fall in private consumption.
According to the DGBAS, HS Markit in July downgraded its global GDP growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 2.7 percent for 2022 in the wake of inflation and interruptions in global supply chains.
Yang has worked at the Taiwan central bank since 1989, serving in its foreign exchange and economic research departments before his appointment as deputy governor in 2008.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel