THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will likely keep policy rates unchanged at its next meeting as headline inflation is expected to remain elevated.
BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said “there’s still a leeway” to maintain policy rates at 6.5 percent.
“We’re still hawkish. Mataas pa inflation eh. We’ll see tomorrow. But one number won’t make a big difference. We need to look at a few months,” Remolona said at the sidelines of the Government-Owned- or Controlled Corporations (GOCC) Day held at the Philippine International Convention Center on Monday, May 6.
April 2024 headline inflation quickened to 3.8 percent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority yesterday.
The BSP, however, earlier projected headline inflation to settle within the range of 3.5 to 4.3 percent in April.
In March, inflation settled at 3.7 percent.
“Parang ang galaw ngayon ng inflation eh naglalaro sa bandang 3.9, ganon. So parang alanganin eh, di ba? Sana bandang 3. ‘Yung 3.9, madaling maging 4.1, ganon. Parang alanganin pa eh. So hawkish pa rin,” said Remolona.
The BSP’s Monetary Board (MB) kept policy rates unchanged during its last meeting on April 8. The MB is scheduled to hold another meeting on May 16.
Remolona said the BSP might cut policy rates if inflation settles comfortably at the 3-percent level for months.
“Sa ngayon, kung mag-ease kami, 25 [basis points] lang. Pero, we’ll see,” he added. (Philippine News Agency)
