FACTBOX-Who will replace Bank of Mexico's current governor?

(Adds Rogelio Ramirez de la O)

MEXICO CITY, May 21 (Reuters) – Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that he will not renominate Bank of Mexico governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon when his term expires on Dec. 31, but instead look for an economist with a “social dimension.”

Here are some possible candidates to head the bank:

GERARDO ESQUIVEL: Esquivel is a left-leaning economist with long ties to Lopez Obrador’s social movement who sits on the bank’s five-member board, having been nominated by the president.

Esquivel leans dovish in his interest rate decisions; minutes of the Bank of Mexico’s monetary policy meetings show that Esquivel has at times pushed for more aggressive rate reductions than the other board members.

In a 2016 newspaper opinion piece, Harvard-educated Esquivel raised the question of whether the autonomous Bank of Mexico should adopt a dual mandate to promote growth as well as low inflation, and argued for more diverse views on the board.

Esquivel was a spokesman on economic matters for Lopez Obrador’s presidential campaign.

GALIA BORJA: Borja is a former finance ministry official who was nominated to the board of the Bank of Mexico – often known in Mexico as “Banxico” – by Lopez Obrador after playing an important role in rolling out social programs.

Lopez Obrador’s keen sense of history may motivate him to name Borja, also a respected mathematician, as the first woman to lead Banxico.

Borja comes from a family with some ties to Mexico’s left and she has played an important role in ensuring the implementation of social programs.

ARTURO HERRERA: Lopez Obrador’s finance minister last year steered Mexico, Latin America’s second largest economy, through its worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s amid the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.

He has spearheaded the implementation of some of Lopez Obrador’s economic and social policies geared at helping Mexico’s poorest.

JONATHAN HEATH: An outspoken and well-known private economist who was named to Banxico’s board by Lopez Obrador’s administration. He previously held the post of chief economist for HSBC bank in Mexico.

Along with Esquivel, Heath has consistently been one of the more dovish members on the central bank’s board.

Heath is widely respected by market watchers and has maintained that his outsider credentials provide a fresh perspective at the bank.

ROGELIO RAMIREZ DE LA O

Ramirez de la O, a former economic adviser to Lopez Obrador, is thought to be another possible contender. The Mexican economist is the director of a private company that provides macroeconomic analysis and forecasts on Mexico.

He has established a reputation for critical analysis of government policy, anticipating large shifts in policy and all the major crises and recoveries since the 1980s, according to the Washington-based Wilson Center.

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