Central Bank of the Philippines
February 6, 2014
Officials at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas kept their key reverse repo rate at 3.5%, its level since October 2012. The repo rate stays at 5.5%, and reserve ratios were not changed, either. A released statement today reads very similarly to the previous one from December 12. Inflation is called manageable even though currently higher “due mainly to the recent increase in food prices on account of adverse weather conditions, latest baseline forecasts continue to indicate that the future inflation path is likely to stay within the target ranges of 4±1 percent for 2014 and 3±1 percent for 2015. Meanwhile, market expectations remain anchored to the inflation target over the policy horizon.” The statement also speaks of a “challenging” global economy but is upbeat about growth prospects at home because of “sound fundamentals such as buoyant demand, strong fiscal and external positions as well as favorable consumer and business sentiment.”
No changes were made to the key interest rates in 2013, but 2012 saw four 25-basis point cuts administered in January, April, July and finally October.
Copyright 2014, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
ShareThis
