BSP expected to cut rates later this month – UOB

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is seen reducing the policy rate at its March 19 meeting, noted Senior Economist Julia Goh and Economist Loke Siew Ting at UOB Group.

Key Quotes

“On the monetary policy front, we are changing our call to a 25bps rate cut at the 19 Mar MPC meeting (from status quo previously). We expect Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to take another pre-emptive move this month after considering that (i) Feb inflation reading came in at the lower bound of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) monthly forecast range of 2.4%-3.2%; (ii) an emergency 50bps Fed rate cut on Tuesday (3 Mar); and (iii) the fast spreading of the COVID-19 outbreak outside of mainland China, especially in Iran, Italy, and South Korea.”