NATIONAL BANKING & FINANCIAL-MONETARY REFORMS

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

 

[Writ 23 March 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]

 

Who really is in control of a country’s central bank? Is the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas really in the hands of the people of the republic, under the guidance of the Constitution of the Republic? How come we cannot even see a shadow of any of the Letters of Intent of the International Monetary Fund that were supposedly deposited in the central bank here?

 

National banking has to be strengthened, the sovereignty of the Constitution over the banks have to be re-asserted here, and in other countries where this is applicable. I would quite say it strongly, that the Bank for International Settlements, the central banks that comprise it, and the IMF-World Bank group do not represent the interests of nations and marginal groups at all. They are appendages of the global financier oligarchy and remain to be weak vehicles under the direction of financier families and figures lurking in the shadows.

 

Look at how the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had been systematically looted in the past, and who knows the trend continues till these days. For serving the interests of global oligarchs well, the core officials here conceal eventualities of looting under the cover of doctored accounting reports. We don’t even know any more the exact quantities and values of gold reserves here. There was massive looting of gold bars here, and who knows the trend continues.

 

There is no transparency concerning the monetary-financial-capital markets and institutions in the country and others. This had been clearly established by so many studies done in the past. Instituting transparency alone isn’t enough to strengthen these institutions.

 

The re-assertion of the central banks’ sovereignty must be done without reserve. In the Philippine case, it is the IMF that has been in control of our central bank and monetary authority. In the USA, the top financier families are the ones who really own and control the federal reserve there.

 

Where necessary, the need to institute financial-capital-monetary controls must be undertaken. Also, there must be a strong consideration for instituting an Asian Monetary Fund here, with an Asian currency backed up by gold reserves. The return to the gold standard, though in revised form, should be strongly studied and considered.

 

Without such reforms, the currency of a nation will always face the risk of being attacked by predatory underworld criminal groups tasked by their financier sponsors to destroy the same currency. Destroy a nation’s currency, and you will destroy the nation as well. Keynes and the Old Nationalists were clear about this, a contention that was amplified by the economic collapse of the Weimar republic, which saw monstrous hyper-inflation, and the scourge of depression that struck the economic giants UK, USA and Germany then.

 

This essential contention of nationalist economics must be re-echoed and re-studied. Its application though must be revised to suit the emerging context. For instance, the viability of instituting a regional currency, as exemplified by the Euro, has become a regular staple of monetary reform.

 

The excerpts from the New Nationalism article regarding the matter is reflected below.

 

Strengthen national banking and the monetary system.

 

Economic stability at all levels demands the strengthening of a national banking system, and concomitantly the strengthening of monetary system with sovereignty-backed parameters and rules. First and foremost of monetary missions is the re-assertion of the powers of the Constitution of the Republic over the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Needless to say, the country today faces a weak national bank, and necessarily a weak monetary system engendered by it. Sovereignty questions impede the effective operations of national banking in the country, as indicated by the excessive meddling of the International Monetary Fund, acting as agent of the global financial cartels, in the Bangko Sentral’s operations. The first step should be a thorough investigation by the Congress of the Republic to determine precisely who owns and controls the Bangko Sentral, and conduct related oversight functions to assess the entire consolidated assets of the said bank inclusive of unaccounted precious metals.

 

Should there be a need to institute maximum monetary controls, the national bank should be mandated by the Congress precisely to exercise such controls through a regime of currency controls, where found warranted. In no way should our national currency be subjected to attacks by predatory financier speculators, as what the latter have been doing from the mid-1997 onwards. Money is the lifeblood of the economy, and rendering our money under a regime of free exchange rates and free trade leaves us extremely vulnerable to the machinations of such greedy forces, further weakening our national economy. Monetary controls are the best antidotes to the ailment of a weak currency. Were it possible to revive a system of gold reserve standard, then let such a strategy be studied and enforced, to ensure stability in monetary concerns and the currency markets.

 

The interest rate controls should likewise continue, but the state must see to it that the rate regimes are within the bounds of sovereignty parameters, representing thereof the national interest and the subsidiary interests of the various social sectors. And, should conditions warrant, our national bank should be among the key initiators for constituting new supra-national institutions, such as an Asian Monetary Fund, thus signaling our participation in reforming the entire financial & monetary system (see below). Our involvement in an Asian Monetary Fund could be a fitful strategy to finally exit from the International Monetary Fund, further strengthening our national banking and monetary system.