The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas once more defended its decision to hold off on interest rate hikes early this year, which its critics have blamed for aggravating the country’s stubbornly high inflation rate this year.
In a speech delivered before the Institute of Corporate Directors on Tuesday morning, BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said preliminary data indicated that prices of goods and services were being driven by so-called supply side factors against which a tightening of monetary policy would be ineffective.
The central bank chief said, however, that “material changes towards the end of the first quarter and the beginning of second quarter of 2018” finally prompted the Monetary Board to raise its key overnight borrowing rate by two successive 25-basis point hikes in May and June.

bin picking