There was zero availment of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) peso rediscount facility from January to April this year due to banks’ liquid position.
The BSP also said no banks availed of the Exporters’ Dollar and Yen Rediscount Facility (EDYRF). There hasn’t been any EDYRF releases since 2016.
Rediscounting is a BSP credit facility extended to qualified banks with active rediscounting lines to meet their temporary liquidity needs by refinancing the loans they extend to their clients using the eligible papers of its end-user borrowers.
The BSP said currently, the peso rediscount rates are based on the BSP overnight lending rate, while the US dollar and yen rediscount rates are based on the applicable benchmark rates.
It was in February this year when the BSP issued a new circular amending and clarifying the lending rates for the EDYRF after the discontinued use of LIBOR rates in Dec. 31, 2021.
BSP Circular No. 1167 simply removed the 90-day LIBOR or the London Inter-bank Offered Rate, and reiterated that in the absence of LIBOR, an applicable benchmark rate plus spread will be used by the BSP.
The BSP also changed the release date of the applicable rates for both terms of the rediscounting windows from every 10th of every month to every seventh of every month.
The rediscount rates will be posted on the BSP’s website on the next banking day if the seventh calendar day of the month falls on a non-banking day. In case of a change in the BSP’s policy rates, the resulting rediscount rates will be posted on the banking day following the said change in the rates.
It remains that the US dollar and Japanese yen rediscount rates will be based on the applicable spread, as may be determined by the BSP, and may change periodically to complement the changes in the BSP’s monetary policy rates.
The spread between these two rates could be different or may vary based on market interest rates.
Eligible banks can avail of the 1-90 days, 91-180 days, and 181-360 days term facility, subject to applicable rediscounting rates.
Last year, the BSP released P15.3 billion of peso rediscounting loans.