At A Glance
- The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said it is still against further increasing policy rates.<br>This comes after Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said that an off-cycle hike may be implemented as early as Thursday if inflation increases.<br>The BSP monetary board's next rate-setting meeting will be held on Nov. 16.<br>NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan— who is not part of the monetary board— earlier said that it's against rate hikes as the country has been "the most aggressive in raising interest rates in the region."
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) maintained its stance against a policy rate hike, emphasizing that inflation is primarily driven by supply-side factors.
This is after Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said that an off-cycle hike may be implemented as early as Thursday if inflation increases.
“As much as possible we don’t want a policy rate hike especially since right now it's actually supply side shocks,” NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon told reporters on the sidelines of the SGV Tax Symposium on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
“But that said we know that the BSP also has its own objective functions so it's about tempering the inflation,” she added.
The BSP monetary board’s next rate-setting meeting will be held on Nov. 16.
Earlier, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan— who is not part of the monetary board— said that he was against rate hikes as the country has been “the most aggressive in raising interest rates in the region.”
The central bank has been increasing its key policy rate since May last year by 425 basis points to temper inflation.
In September, the BSP monetary board kept its rates unchanged at 6.25 percent, which is the highest in nearly 16 years.
The country’s headline inflation swelled to 6.1 percent in September, significantly higher than the 5.3 percent in August. This is also above the range target of two percent to four percent.