MANILA — There is room to cut Philippine interest rates by 25 basis points twice more this year, but they will not necessarily be at consecutive meetings and the central bank has to be careful not to cut by too much, Governor Eli Remolona said on Friday.
Inflation should remain low in coming months, with growth expected to moderate this year and next, he told a briefing, adding he expected the current economic uncertainty to persist.
“We still have to be careful because we don’t want to cut too much,” Remolona told reporters.The central bank resumed its easing cycle last month, cutting its key policy rate PHCBIR=ECI by 25 basis points to 5.5%. The next policy meeting is scheduled for June 19.
Annual inflation slowed to 1.4% in April, the lowest rate since November 2019. This brought the year-to-date average inflation to 2.0%, the bottom of the central bank’s 2.0% to 4.0% target range for the year.
—Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Editing by John Mair
