The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas , raised the policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 percent in an off-cycle move to rein in inflation, Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said Thursday.
The tightening might not end there this year, as Remolona said in a briefing the BSP would weigh the gross domestic product growth in the third quarter and the inflation rate in October for a possible further policy action. “Inflation and the Q3 GDP will come out . So these are additional data to consider…. We are hoping that the data will be nicer to us. But if not, we will consider a further rate hike ,” said Remolona, who is also the chairman of the Monetary Board.
Remolona said he was no longer expecting inflation to return to within the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent this year. “I think from March to July next year, inflation will be above 4 percent…That is what our model says. Beyond July it will be somewhere around 3 percent and stay there for the rest of 2024,” he said.District Car Boot Sale Sports & Celebrity Edition: Where Stars and Bargains Align!NBA All-Star Game reverts to East-West, classic format