"In my view, the monetary authorities have done enough. 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.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Michael Perry)
(Corrects to 'seven-man' in paragraph six)
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% .
BSP Governor Felipe Medalla has said the central bank's next
policy decision move would depend largely on how consumer prices
behave in the coming months.
The latest BSP rate increase brought to 425 bps the total
tightening it has delivered since May, 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.
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