MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday it would assess the impact of its last two rate cuts to see if there is a need to pause and leave interest rates unchanged in today’s meeting as many analysts expect.
BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said that monetary authorities would be considering various factors including changes in the environment since the last rate setting on March 1 as well as risks to inflation.
“What we will be looking at are changes in the operating environment since the last policy meeting and implications on future inflation. We will also assess the impact of the last two policy rate adjustments.
We will make an assessment of these factors to see if there is a need to adjust or keep policy rates unchanged,” Tetangco told reporters yesterday.
The BSP has so far cut interest rates by 50 basis points this year to a record low of four percent for the overnight borrowing rate and a record low of six percent for the overnight lending rate.