Latest news with #Remolona
GMA Network
03-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Two more rate cuts possible this year, says BSP Gov. Remolona
'There's room because inflation is low and growth is a bit lower also, except that, the cuts cannot really compensate entirely for the slowdown in growth,' BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said. File photo Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli Remolona Jr. on Thursday hinted at the possibility of two more rate cuts this year, as he said the current inflation and economic growth levels give the central bank room for further easing. Speaking with reporters, Remolona said there could be two more rate cuts this year, with three more policy meetings scheduled this year on August 26, October 6, and December 9. 'Pwede, pwede naman. Meron pa tayong August, meron pa tayong October, December [It's possible. We still have August, we still have October, December],' Remolona said on the sidelines of the BSP's 32nd Anniversary Multimedia Exhibit in Manila. 'There's room because inflation is low and growth is a bit lower also, except that, the cuts cannot really compensate entirely for the slowdown in growth,' he told reporters. Inflation clocked in at 1.3% in May, marking the fourth straight month of deceleration. Official figures for June are scheduled to be released on Friday, July 4. The BSP projects this to possibly have hit as high as 1.9% in June. Economic growth, meanwhile, was recorded at 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025, with Philippine economic managers expecting the full-year expansion to average between 5.5% to 6.5% this year. 'Kasi 'yung slowdown in growth, dahil sa uncertainty 'yun eh. Napo-postpone 'yung big-ticket consumption items, napo-postpone investments, tapos 'yung exports dahil bumagal din ang ano eh, global growth,' Remolona said. (The growth slowdown is because of uncertainty. The big-ticket consumption items are being postponed, investments are being postponed, and exports have decelerated because of the slower global growth.) The Monetary Board of the BSP last month cut key policy rates by 25 basis points, bringing the target reverse repurchase rate to 5.25%, the overnight deposit rate to 4.75%, and the overnight lending facility rate to 5.75%. 'If things remain on track, then we will probably cut once more, but depending on the data… But for now things remain on track. Isa pa [One more],' Remolona said in June. — BM, GMA Integrated News
The Star
19-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Philippines central bank cuts policy rate by 25 bps, as expected
MANILA: The Philippine central bank cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%, its governor announced on Thursday, taking the rate to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years. A Reuters poll showed 22 out of 25 economists had forecast the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to lower its target reverse repurchase rate. The rest expected rates to stay unchanged at 5.50%. BSP Governor Eli Remolona said in a briefing that while the outlook for inflation had moderated and there was a need for accommodative policy, there were risks from rising geopolitical tensions and external policy uncertainty that had to be monitored. The BSP cut rates at three consecutive meetings from August last year, but then surprised markets by pausing at its February review. It delivered another 25 basis point rate cut in April. Last month, Remolona had said the BSP had room to deliver two more 25 basis point rate cuts this year but they may not be at consecutive meetings. - Reuters
Business Times
19-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Philippines cuts key rate again as inflation stays below target
[MANILA] The Philippine central bank lowered its key interest rate by a quarter point for the second time this year, as widely expected, after inflation remained below target. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reduced its overnight target reverse repurchase rate to 5.25 per cent on Thursday (Jun 19), matching the forecast by 29 of 30 economists in a Bloomberg survey. One saw a hold. The BSP stayed on an easing path after inflation slowed further in May, staying below the central bank's 2 per cent-4 per cent goal for a third month. The move is in line with governor Eli Remolona's signal last month for at least two more rate cuts this year, continuing a cycle of reductions that started in August. Oil price gains due to the Israel-Iran conflict, however, could stoke inflation in the nation heavily reliant on fuel imports. The Philippine peso has also weakened amid global risk aversion. Remolona said on Wednesday that it's futile to intervene in the currency market to support the peso that's fallen nearly 3 per cent against the dollar this month – the biggest loser in Asia. The move comes a day after Bank Indonesia paused to stabilise its currency in the face of the trade war and Middle East tensions. The Federal Reserve similarly held its benchmark rate, with officials saying uncertainty over the economic outlook was still high. The rate cut will nonetheless help support the South-east Asian economy, which expanded slower than expected last quarter, partly due to weaker investment growth as US President Donald Trump's tariff threats hurt global sentiment. BLOOMBERG
The Star
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Philippines signals it won't intervene to cap peso strength
MANILA: Philippine central bank Governor Eli Remolona signalled authorities are unlikely to intervene to curb the strength in the peso, which has risen along with Asian peers this month. "This is a story of dollar weakness,' Remolona said in a mobile-phone message on Wednesday (May 7). "To intervene now would be to go against the tide.' The peso climbed to its strongest level since March 2024 this week, on growing optimism over trade deals. The stance of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas stands in contrast to peers in Taiwan and Hong Kong, who have intervened in the market to slow the pace of appreciation in their currencies. - Bloomberg
The Star
28-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
BSP targets inflation via currency intervention
Volatility mitigation: People lounge around against the backdrop of a sunset at Manila Bay. Remolona says global factors, rather than domestic ones, are often the key drivers of volatility in emerging market currencies. — AFP MANILA: The Philippine central bank says its periodic intervention in currency markets aims to stem pressures if the peso was to weaken, but that it's not trying to manage capital flows into and out of the country. 'We don't like to do capital flow management – we stay away from that, and we continue to stay away from that,' Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Eli Remolona said in a panel discussion at the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington last Friday. 'We intervene when we see that the peso is swinging to a point where it becomes inflationary, and then we try to slow down that trend.' The unusually explicit comments about currency intervention come as export-oriented South-East Asia grapples with the fallout from US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. The Philippines has fared better than many other emerging markets, with the peso advancing about 2.8% against the dollar this year even as the central bank lowered borrowing costs. South-East Asia's biggest economy, Indonesia, has the region's worst-performing currency, with the rupiah declining 4.3% this year. Bank Indonesia has repeatedly intervened to smooth out volatility as capital flowed out of the country. Remolona said global factors, rather than domestic ones, are often the key drivers of volatility in emerging market currencies. 'The single biggest risk factor that distinguishes emerging markets from advanced economies is the exchange rate,' he said in the discussion that was moderated by Bloomberg Television's Lisa Abramowicz. 'What happens in the Philippines is the peso swings up and then it swings down, it appreciates and depreciates. And usually it's a dollar story: It's the dollar responding to geopolitical factors.' Investor concern about the Trump administration's policies has recently reduced the attractiveness of the dollar, alleviating some pressures on emerging market currencies. On April 10, when the BSP cut rates, Remolona told a briefing that 'like the rest of the world, we're looking at slower growth, but unlike the rest of the world, we're looking at lower inflation'. That allows the bank to have an accommodative monetary stance, he said at the time. The Philippine government has said it wants growth to accelerate to at least 6% this year from 5.6% in 2024, when multiple typhoons ravaged farm crops. In early April, the central bank lowered its forecast for risk-adjusted inflation to 2.3% this year from the 3.5% prediction it made in February. But in his last Friday panel, Remolona made it clear that the BSP stands ready to act if exchange rate moves were to fuel price gains. 'If you look at the experience of inflation targeting, there's a compelling reason to do that,' he said. 'You're using foreign-exchange (FX) intervention for purposes of managing inflation, and that's okay. 'That's perfectly okay.' — Bloomberg
