BEST ASIAN FINANCE MINISTER
Roberto
De Ocampo, Philippines
Over the past year, Roberto De Ocampo has more than vindicated his award of 1995's Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year. He goes from strength to strength, as part of a team under President Fidel Ramos that has brought the Philippines from being the sick man of Asia to become one of its star performers.
The 50-year-old De Ocampo has consolidated his position as secretary of finance since he took control in 1994, and has won the respect of the international markets. The economy is growing fast: GDP climbed at an annual rate of 7.1% in the first half of this year, buoyed by exports which grew 20%. In its fifth consecutive year of economic growth, the country is now on course to become the fastest-growing economy in the Asean region. Even so, growth appears to be sustainable and, in contrast to previous boom-and-bust cycles, exports rather than consumption are driving the economy. Inflation is under control, slowing to single digits in August, and the fiscal deficit has been held in check as discretionary spending has been cut.
This has helped put the Philippines in a position to gain investment-grade sovereign credit ratings quite soon already the country has been upgraded to BB- from BB by Standard & Poor's and to Ba2 from Ba3 by Moody's last year.
De Ocampo had almost nine years' experience working at the World Bank, and six years at the Development Bank of the Philippines, rising to chairman. These posts have given him the ability to handle negotiations with international organizations very deftly. The Philippines' debt service ratios have improved dramatically under De Ocampo's tenure, falling to 118% in 1995 from 195% in 1991. De Ocampo has also taken a leading role in the banking liberalization process over the past two years. Tax reform is also under way, although the latest changes are currently log-jammed in congress.
BEST ASIAN CENTRAL BANKER
Joseph Yam,
Hong Kong
Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the de facto central bank, has built up an institution that will not fade away after the colony is handed over to China in 1997. Moreover, he has developed the local capital markets and maintained a stable currency.
What makes Yam so special is that he has achieved all this while preserving the open approval and partnership of the People's Republic of China, a high degree of independence, and the confidence of international and local markets.
Yam was educated as a statistician and economist at the University of Hong Kong, and rapidly worked his way up through the civil service to become deputy secretary for monetary affairs the first local Chinese in that post, which was traditionally reserved for a Bank of England secondee.
This was only one of a long line of firsts. In 1991 he became the first director of the office of the Exchange Fund, the body set up to manage the government's financial assets. In April 1993 he became the first head of the new central monetary authority, the HKMA.
Yam has expanded the mandate of the HKMA beyond its original aim of maintaining sound monetary policy. He has enhanced banking supervision and developed the market's infrastructure. Yam's team has set up a discount window and a settlement system for bonds. The HKMA also has ambitious plans to establish a mortgage corporation to help develop mortgage-backed securities.
The maturing of Hong Kong's fixed-income markets is in part down to Yam's zeal. He has taken the debt markets from being little more than a tool for exercising monetary policy to a market with a proper yield curve.
Yam is a perceptive political mover, as illustrated by his ability to involve Beijing in all these developments. For example, recently he widened the eligibility requirement for the discount window to include ratings by IBCA and JBRI. This allowed Chinese banks such as the Bank of China to qualify.
Because the 48-year-old central banker is respected both by the PRC and international markets, he is even being spoken of as a long-shot to become Hong Kong's first chief executive after the handover.
BEST ARAB FINANCE MINISTER
Ibrahim
Abdul-Karim, Bahrain
This year Ibrahim Abdul-Karim, minister of finance and national economy in Bahrain, celebrates 20 years in office. This makes the 55-year-old minister probably the longest-serving finance minister in the world. During his tenure, Bahrain has witnessed unprecedented changes as the economy has been opened up. In 1989 the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE) was launched as part of a long-term strategy to establish Manama, the capital, as a financial centre for the region.
But it has been a tough task to develop the economy: the country has a limited manufacturing base, rapid population growth, few natural resources, and now produces only around 40,000 barrels of oil a day.
Nonetheless, Abdul-Karim has been behind many of the initiatives to develop equity markets, and to promote the country as an offshore financial centre and a tourist destination.
Most recently, Bahrain has signed cross-listing initiatives with Jordan and the Oman securities market in a bid to lift the performance of the BSE. In addition to his role of finance minister, Abdul-Karim is deputy chairman of the central bank, the Bahrain Monetary Agency, and also chairman of Gulf International Bank.
BEST ARAB CENTRAL BANKER
Riad Salameh, Lebanon
Two things remained constant during Lebanon's decade-long civil war: wine from the Bekaa valley, and the central bank, Banque du Liban (BDL), which remained open for business throughout. In the country's redevelopment since the war ended, the BDL has helped to build stability and introduce innovations.
Three years into his term, Riad Salameh who, at 42, was the bank's youngest-ever governor has laid the foundations for a sound financial recovery. The former Merrill Lynch employee has already achieved much. Salameh implemented a policy to rebuild the external value of the Lebanese pound. The success of this is demonstrated by the currency's 8.5% appreciation between the end of 1993 and the end of 1995, the first time for over 10 years that it has not been depreciating. The stability of the pound has been bolstered in part by the BDL's management of its foreign exchange reserves and its canny intervention policy to defend the currency. All this has helped to create an environment attractive to foreign investment.