Philippine central bank keeps key rate at 3%, as expected

[MANILA] The Philippine central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady on Thursday, as expected, citing strong domestic demand and with inflation on course to settle within this year and next year's target.

The central bank left the overnight borrowing rate unchanged at 3.0 per cent, the level set by the monetary authority after it moved to an interest rate corridor (IRC) on June 3.

Before the corridor was launched, the key overnight borrowing rate was 4.0 per cent. Policymakers fixed the corridor's width at 100 basis points, so the ceiling now is 3.5 per cent and the floor 2.5 per cent.

The policy stance has been steady since October 2014.

REUTERS