The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), 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 [before the next meeting on Nov. 16]. 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 [in the November meeting],” 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 [2024] it will be somewhere around 3 percent and stay there for the rest of 2024,” he said.
