MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will “stay vigilant” to keep inflation under control, even as price spikes slowed for the first time this year in November, Governor Nestor Espenilla said.
The 6-percent print in November – from 6.7 percent in the previous 2 months – is “very encouraging” and points to inflation heading back to the BSP’s 2-to-4 percent target, Espenilla said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Monetary policy will need to stay vigilant to keep inflation under firm control amid expected strong economic growth,” he said.
Espenilla credited “strong monetary action” for the slowdown in inflation, but the “more direct impact on economic activity will take a longer time to take hold,” he said.
The BSP hiked the benchmark borrowing rate by a cumulative 1.75 percentage points this year in the face of rising prices. During its last policy meeting earlier this month, it lowered its inflation forecast for 2019. (With ABS-CBN News/PN)
