BSP: Interest rate cut ‘closed’, bank reserve reduction ’still open’
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno on Tuesday, Oct. 8, said there will be no more policy rate cut this year even as banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) may still be reduced before 2019 ends.
On the sidelines of The Asset’s 14th Philippine Forum, Diokno said “it’s closed” or it was over for the BSP in terms of any further reduction in key interest rates.
The BSP’s policy-setting Monetary Board will still have two more meetings to discuss the monetary policy stance this year, scheduled on Nov. 14 and Dec. 12.
As for the RRR, Diokno said “it’s still open” or there remained a possibility that it would be further cut by December.
Diokno said they would consider third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth data, the November inflation rate, and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook (WEO) report to be released this month, before deciding whether or not to again slash the RRR. /TSB
