Chidu Narayanan, economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said the BSP would likely reduce interest rates by another 75 basis points this year after the initial 25-basis points cut on May 9. “We expect inflation to fall below two percent in the second half, giving the central bank more room to cut policy rates further. We see another 75 basis points of rate cuts this year, following an initial cut in May,” Narayanan said. This would take total rate cuts in 2019 to 100 basis points as BSP responds to lower inflation and softening growth. Narayanan said policy rate cuts, along with the reserve requirement rate cuts, should support credit growth for the rest of the year.

Source: Philippine Star July 21, 2019 16:00 UTC