21.09.201706:20:00UTC+00Philippine Central Bank Maintains Key Rates

The Philippines' central bank on Thursday decided to maintain its key interest rate at a record low.

The monetary board of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, governed by Nestor Espenilla, held the overnight reverse repurchase facility at 3.0 percent, in line with economists' expectations.

The rates on the overnight lending and deposit facilities and the reserve requirement ratios were also kept steady.

Policymakers said the future inflation path will continue to be within the target range for 2017-2019.

The board viewed that prevailing monetary policy settings continue to be appropriate.

Meanwhile, inflation expectations remain firmly anchored close to the midpoint of the government's 2 percent to 4 percentage point target over the policy horizon, the central bank said.

The outlook for domestic economic activity remains firm, supported by positive consumer and business sentiment and ample liquidity, the bank said.

With the economy growing at a decent pace and the outlook remaining positive, there is little need for more supportive monetary policy, Capital Economics' economist Alex Holmes said.

The policy rate is expected to remain unchanged at 3.0 percent throughout 2017 and 2018, Holmes added.