BSP watches PH liquidity levels

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas yesterday said that liquidity in the local financial system had declined in recent weeks, leaving banks with less investable cash and prompting calls for regulators to accelerate the timetable for reducing statutory bank reserves.

In an interview, BSP Gov. Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the tighter liquidity was caused, in part, by a P255-billion retail treasury bond issuance of the national government and the traditionally lower level of free cash in the banking system in December and January.

Nonetheless, the central bank stands ready to release more liquidity into the financial system—possibly by lowering the current 20-percent reserve that banks are required to set aside from their deposits —sooner rather than later.

“That’s one of the weapons in my holster,” Espenilla said, referring to the central bank’s tools for managing the amount of cash circulating in the banking system.

As early as last year, he had indicated his desire to see the statutory reserve requirement reduced to “single digit levels” to allow the extra cash to be funneled to productive endeavors like funding the Duterte administration’s planned P9-trillion infrastructure buildup program.

The country’s top monetary regulator noted, however, that the timing of the reserve requirement reduction will depend on the assessment of central bank planners who are focused on keeping the prices of goods and services in check.

Releasing more cash into the financial system results in more money chasing the same amount of goods and services and, thus, causes prices to rise. This plan to lower reserves comes at a time when the Duterte administration just passed a package of tax hikes which the central bank expects to have a “short term” upward impact on domestic prices, especially those on food and petroleum.