Philippine central bank hikes interest rate to 6.25 pct to tame inflation

STORY: Philippine central bank hikes interest rate to 6.25 pct to tame inflation DATELINE: March 24, 2023 LENGTH: 00:02:08 LOCATION: Manila CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 2. various of streets in Manila STORYLINE: The Philippine central bank on Thursday decided to raise the interest rate on the overnight reverse repurchase facility by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent effective Friday to tame inflation. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla said the Monetary Board also raised the overnight deposit and lending rates to 5.75 percent and 6.75 percent, respectively. "The Monetary Board's decision was based on the sum of new information and its assessment of the effects of past policy actions, which warranted a continuation of monetary tightening to anchor inflation expectations," Medalla told a press conference. With core inflation rising in February despite a modest decline in headline inflation, he said, "further monetary policy action