BSP delays next rate decision by one week

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) [link] said the Monetary Policy Stance review, which was originally scheduled to occur on April 3, has been rescheduled to occur one week later, on April 10. The BSP said that the “quiet period” before meetings will begin on April 3, and that the decision on interest rates made by the Monetary Board will be announced at 3 PM on April 10. No reason for the delay was given.

MB bottom-line: Just looking at the schedule, the delay will allow the BSP’s Monetary Board to take the March inflation data into account, which is scheduled to come out on April 4 (the day after the original rate-setting date). The “quiet period” referred to here is the self-imposed limit that prohibits those with “knowledge or information related or pertaining to the upcoming monetary policy meeting” from taking interviews with media or doing speaking engagements. Only the Governor (Eli Remolona) is able to speak during the quiet period, but only with a majority approval of the Monetary Board members.   

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