UPDATE 1-Philippines' budget secretary named central bank governor

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday appointed his budget secretary as the governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, 70, will complete the six-year term of central bank governor Nestor Espenilla, who died on Feb. 23 of cancer.

"Yes" Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea told reporters when asked to confirm if the president had named Diokno. Diokno confirmed the appointment to Reuters.

Prior to his appointment as budget secretary, a position he also held under former president Joseph Estrada, Diokno served as senior advisor at the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC), professional lecturer at the University of the Philippines School of Economics and Independent Director at the Asia United Bank among others. Diokno holds a master's degree in public administration and master's degree in economics from the University of the Philippines, and a doctorate in economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University in New York.

Diokno assumes the position of central bank chief just as inflation has become less of a threat, thanks to easing fuel and food prices. Cooling inflation, which last year hit a near-decade peak of 6.7 percent in September and October, should give the central bank room to reverse some of last year's tightening, economists have said, which bodes well for growth.

The Philippines missed its downwardly revised growth target of 6.5-6.9 percent last year. It is aiming for a 7-8 percent growth this year. The central bank kept interest rates steady at its last two meetings and some economists expect policymakers to cut the rate on its overnight reverse repurchase facility and reduce banks' required reserves this year.

To tackle inflation, the central bank hiked rates five times last year, totalling 175 basis points. (Reporting by Karen Lema Editing by Peter Graff)