Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has chosen a new head of economic planning, less than 24 hours after demanding the resignation of the last man to hold the post.

The new secretary of economic planning and development is Romulo Neri, an economist currently in charge of the congressional planning and budget office.

The departure of his predecessor, Dante Canlas, was a shock, coming less than a month after he - and the rest of the senior economics team - had seen their offer to stand down to make way for a reshuffle refused.

The changeover could put pressure on the Philippines currency, the peso, which has been weakening due to slack controls on the public purse despite stable inflation and growing exports.

Good team

Mr Canlas left on Thursday morning at the request of the president, he told reporters.

The news confirms swirling rumours of an impending cabinet reshuffle.

But after President Arroyo's refusal to accept Mr Canlas' and other resignations in November, the abrupt near-sackings break up an economics team which, said Astro del Castillo, director of the Association of Security Analysts of the Philippines, was well-respected.

"This will definitely come as a surprise to the investment community," he said, stressing the need to get a replacement bedded down as soon as possible.

"It's important for any government to keep its economic team intact."

Sacrifice

The government stressed the move did not mean a change of direction.

"I don't think it will change the direction of our economic policies," Finance Secretary Jose Camacho said. "For the record, I'm not resigning."

The president, meanwhile, announced she had formed a new oversight system to fight graft.

And the markets were little touched by the news, with shares on the Manila stock market ending Friday's trading slightly higher.

But the suspicion is that with rampant corruption, meagre tax receipts and a bulging deficit, Ms Arroyo needed to sacrifice someone.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper quoted Canlas, an economist and university professor, as saying Arroyo had asked for his resignation "because of perceptions of an economic crisis that needed to be dispelled".