Philippines Raises Reserve Ratio, Keeps Interest Rate Unchanged

USD/PHP closed at 43.525

Philippines Raises Reserve Ratio, Keeps Interest Rate Unchanged
By Max Estayo and Karl Lester Yap

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Philippine central bank
unexpectedly kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.5
percent even as it asked lenders to set aside more money as
reserves, according to a statement in Manila today.
The decision to refrain from raising borrowing costs was
predicted by six of 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News,
with the rest expecting an increase of 0.25 percentage point.
Policy makers increased the reserve requirement ratio to 20
percent from 19 percent, according to the statement.