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☆ Our monetary policy tools may be 'inappropriate' at this time, says Philippine finance secretary
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOur monetary policy tools may be 'inappropriate' at this time, says Philippine finance secretaryPhilippine Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno says the monetary board will meet again this month to weigh monetary and fiscal measures.

Persons: Benjamin Diokno Organizations: Philippine Locations: Philippine

☆ Philippines need not match Fed's 25-basis point hike, finance minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, July 31 (Reuters) - The Philippines' finance minister said monetary authorities have room to pause on rate hikes in August despite a recent policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve. That is my view and we have to monitor other indicators like inflation," Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno told reporters on Friday during his weekly media briefing. The Monetary Board has four current members, including the central bank governor, but three seats are still vacant. Inflation is expected to return to within the central bank's 2% to 4% target range in the fourth quarter, Diokno said. We are data dependent," Diokno said, adding that authorities will take stock of the Fed rate hike's impact on both global and domestic economy.

Persons: Benjamin Diokno, Diokno, Eli Remolona, Neil Jerome Morales, Lincoln Organizations: U.S . Federal, Monetary, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Fed, Thomson Locations: MANILA, Philippines

☆ Philippine finance secretary sees 'long pause' in rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, June 25 (Reuters) - Philippine Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said he expected the central bank, of which he is a policymaker, to take a "long pause" in raising interest rates steady as inflation is expected to ebb. The bank held its key policy rate steady at 6.25% for a second straight meeting on Thursday. I don't see any cut until we really have that strong evidence of a decline" in inflation, Diokno said. He is one of the seven members of the policy-making Monetary Board, which next meets on Aug. 17 to review policy under the leadership of a new central bank governor. Since May last year, the central bank raised rates 425 basis points to combat inflation.

Persons: Benjamin Diokno, Diokno, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Eli Remolona, Felipe Medalla, Neil Jerome Morales, WIlliam Mallard Organizations: Philippine Finance, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Thomson Locations: MANILA, Bangko

☆ We'll continue to spend 5% to 6% of GDP on infrastructure, says Philippine secretary of finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe'll continue to spend 5% to 6% of GDP on infrastructure, says Philippine secretary of financeBenjamin Diokno, Philippine secretary of finance and former governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, discusses the areas of the economy that the country plans to develop, such as tourism, infrastructure and electric vehicles.

Persons: Benjamin Diokno Organizations: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Locations: Philippine, Bangko

☆ Philippines' finance minister says no reason for rate hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANILA, May 15 (Reuters) - The Philippine central bank has no reason to raise interest rates further as domestic inflation is easing, the country's finance minister said ahead of a May 18 monetary policy meeting. Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno reiterated his stance against a rate hike when he spoke to reporters. "I'm for a pause, that's my opinion. "So over all, there's no reason why we should increase the rates." Some economists believe the inflation downtrend and cooling economic growth have built the case for the BSP to pause in its tightening cycle.

However, confusing the picture core inflation accelerated to 8.0% in March from February's 7.8%, the fastest pace since 1999. Nicholas Mapa, an economist at ING bank, said a sustained downtrend in inflation could make the BSP consider hitting the pause button on its most aggressive interest rate hiking cycle for years. "Today's inflation reading could be one additional data point that could convince Governor Medalla that inflation is finally moderating," Mapa told Reuters. "We expect inflation to moderate further in April which could open up the door for a BSP pause at the May meeting." Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who is one of the seven members of the central bank's policy making monetary board, said on Tuesday, the central bank has probably done enough to address inflation.

☆ Philippines president backs merger of two state lenders to create country's biggest bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, March 28 (Reuters) - Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is pushing for the merger of two state-run banks, which will create the country's largest lender by assets, his finance secretary said on Tuesday. The merger of Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) would also be in line with past government efforts for consolidation in the banking sector. "The merger will create a bigger and stronger bank to better serve the country's development needs," Diokno said. The union of DBP and LBP would allow the government to save more than 5 billion pesos ($91.93 million) in operating costs in the first year of their merger, Diokno said. As of end-September, the two banks had combined assets of 3.8 trillion pesos, compared with 3.7 trillion pesos of BDO Unibank (BDO.PS), which is controlled by the Philippines' richest family, central bank data showed.

☆ Philippine minister says pause in rate rises likely at next bank meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, March 26 (Reuters) - Philippines Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Sunday he believed that the central bank was leaning towards a pause in interest rate rises at its next monetary policy meeting scheduled for May. "Non-monetary measures to ease inflation could address the problem more effectively", including those already adopted by fiscal authorities, Diokno said in a statement. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' decided on Thursday to continue fighting inflation with a rate increase, although at the slower pace of 25 basis points (bps) to 6.25% (PHCBIR=ECI). And monetary policy is not the only game in town. Besides ... monetary policy works with a long lag," said Diokno, who sits as a member of the seven-man monetary board of the central bank.

Summary Jan CPI at fresh 14-year high of 8.7%Faster-than-expected inflation raises odds of bigger rate hikeEconomic planning chief says inflation to moderate this yearMANILA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Philippine annual inflation blew past expectations in January to reach a fresh 14-year high on surging food prices, raising the chance of the central bank delivering a bigger interest rate hike to tame prices when it meets this month. Given the faster-than-expected inflation in January, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) looks certain to hike interest rates by at least 25 basis points and with a bigger 50 bps likely to be on the table, ING economist Nicholas Mapa said in a Tweet. The Philippines' broader stock index (.PSI) dropped 0.4% in early trade on expectations of a larger rate hike, while the peso had slipped 0.5% at 54.73 per dollar as of 0211 GMT. The main factor behind January's red-hot inflation was the 11.2% annual rise in food inflation, the quickest pace since 2009, and compared to the previous month's 10.6%, and the 1.6% rate in the same month last year. Elevated inflation, plus the need to maintain interest rate differentials between the U.S. and the Philippines, have forced the central bank to embark on aggressive tightening, with the benchmark rate (PHCBIR=ECI) rising by a total of 350 bps last year.

☆ Philippines finance secretary discusses inflation targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailInflation in the Philippines expected to return to target of 2% to 4% by 2024: Finance secretaryBenjamin Diokno, finance secretary of the Philippines, says inflation in the country averaged 5.8% last year.

☆ Philippine economic managers back bill creating sovereign fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANILA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Philippine economic officials have thrown their support behind the creation of a sovereign wealth fund backed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr amid opposition from some groups due to concerns over the risk of corruption and transparency. The economic managers "strongly support" the proposed sovereign wealth fund to generate additional income for the government, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno told a media briefing, as he called for the speedy passage of the bill creating the fund. "Direct benefits of the (fund) include increased investments in and funding of big ticket infrastructure projects, high return on green and blue projects, and countryside development including agriculture," Diokno said, reading a joint statement. Authors of the bill have agreed to remove that contentious provision, and instead proposed utilising the profits of the Philippine central bank to bankroll the fund. The plans come as neighbours like Malaysia and Singapore and more recently Indonesia have established sovereign wealth funds, with mixed results.

☆ Philippine Q3 GDP growth "much better than consensus forecast" -finmin
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Philippine economic growth in the third quarter was "much better than consensus forecast", the finance minister said on Thursday ahead of the official release of data. "All these will be summarised by the higher than expected Q3 GDP growth rate," Diokno said. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast third-quarter GDP grew 6.3% on an annual basis. Official data will be released at around 0200 GMT. The Southeast Asian nation's second-quarter GDP grew 7.5% versus a year ago.

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