MANILA 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 in May.
Inflation can be addressed more effectively with non-monetary measures that are already adopted by fiscal authorities, according to Diokno, according to a statement.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas decided on Thursday to fight inflation with a rate increase, although at a slower pace of 25 basis points bps to 6.25 per cent.
The central bank's next policy decision will depend on consumer prices in the coming months, according to BSP Governor Felipe Medalla.
The BSP rate increase brought the total tightening it has delivered since May to 425 bps, the full impact of which Diokno said had yet to be absorbed by the economy, considering that monetary policy often works with a long lag.
The monetary authorities have done enough, in my opinion. Money policy is not the only game in town. Besides monetary policy, the bank has a long lag, said Diokno, who is a member of the seven-man monetary board of the central bank.