Filipino Monetary Policy
May 12, 2016
Monetary Board officials at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas left the key overnight borrowing and lending rates at 4.0% and 6.0%, assessing the environment for inflation to be still manageable. The last rate changes were made in 2014, a 25-basis point hike in July followed by another in September. Those moves had been the first increases since May 2011, but four cuts were engineered in between during 2012. Officials had revised projected growth down a bit in March. Today’s statement characterizes “the overall balance of risks surrounding the inflation outlook tilted to the downside, observes a slight dip in expectations of inflation this year, but asserts that medium-term inflation expectations remain within the 2-4% target range. Global growth prospects have softened since the prior board meeting but “domestic economic activity nevertheless remains robust.”
Copyright 2016, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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