The Philippine central bank raised its benchmark interest rates for the fourth time in five months on Thursday, pushing them to seven-year highs, and kept the door open for further tightening as it battles to cool inflation. With prices rising at the fastest pace in nearly a decade, the central bank's Monetary Board voted to increase the rate on its reverse repurchase facility by 50 basis points (bps) to 4.5 percent.
It also raised the rates on the overnight lending and deposit facilities by the same amount. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Bank Indonesia have been the most aggressive central banks in Asia so far this year as their currencies take a beating. Both have now raised rates by 150 bps since May. Indonesia also hiked on Thursday, by a quarter-point.
Analysts said further BSP hikes are likely after the central bank said it was strongly committed "to take all necessary policy actions to address the threat of high inflation." The latest move had been widely expected by most analysts in a Reuters poll and followed a similar 50 bps hike in August, which was the biggest in 10 years.
"The Monetary Board recognised that a further tightening of monetary policy was warranted by persistent signs of sustained and broadening price pressures," the central bank said in a statement. In August, inflation surged to a more than nine-year high of 6.4 percent, way above the central bank's 2-4 percent comfort range. It has been steadily rising due this year due to higher taxes, the weak peso, and rising food and fuel costs.
The BSP's key rate is now the highest since December 2011. It set the policy rate at 3.0 percent when it moved to an interest rate corridor framework in 2016 to make policy transmission faster and more efficient. The BSP also raised its average inflation forecasts to 5.2 percent for 2018, from 4.9 percent, and to 4.3 percent for 2019, from 3.7 percent, well above the target range.