Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — For the sixth consecutive time, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has decided to keep its policy rates unchanged, based on its inflation outlook and its assessment of domestic demand.
The BSP announced Thursday (June 25) that its Monetary Board kept rates for the overnight borrowing or reverse repurchase (RRP) facility, and overnight lending or repurchase (RP) facility at 4% and 6%, respectively.
Similarly, the special deposit account (SDA) rate remains at 2.5%, while the reserve requirement ratios for universal and commercial banks were also maintained at 20%.
Rates were last raised in September 2014.
The BSP’s latest baseline forecasts indicated that inflation is likely to settle within the lower half of the government’s target range of 2% to 4% for 2015-2016.
Inflation for the first quarter of 2015 eased off at 2.4%, substantially lower than the 4.1% recorded in the same period of 2014, and the 3.6% registered in the previous quarter.
“The Monetary Board noted that domestic demand conditions remain firm despite the lower-than-expected first-quarter output growth, supported by solid private household and capital spending as well as buoyant business confidence,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco said in a statement.
“At the same time, ample domestic liquidity and planned higher public spending are expected to further support domestic economic activity and sustain the economy’s momentum in the months ahead.”
