Philippine central bank governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. passes away at 60

He spearheaded the digitalisation of the retail payment system in the country.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor and chairman of the Monetary Board Nestor Espenilla Jr. passed away on 23 February after battling with cancer for more than a year.

Espenilla’s leadership paved way for the central bank to pursue major reforms in monetary and financial policies, as well as the BSP organisational structure. He also spearheaded the digitalisation of the retail payment system in the country.

Prior to his appointment as governor, Espenilla served as deputy governor in charge of the Supervision and Examination Sector (SES), which supervises banks and non-bank financial institutions under BSP jurisdiction.

Governor Espenilla was appointed by president Rodrigo Duterte and has concurrently served as ex-officio chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) and the Financial Stability Coordination Council (FSCC).