Biz group backs PBBM admin’s PPP program BSP guv: Another rate hike possible

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla on Friday said the next monetary rate adjustment will partly depend on the outcome of the inflation rate this February.

At the sidelines of BSP’s reception for the banking community, Medalla told reporters if the Consumer Price Index for February is lower month-on-month, then there is a chance the policy rate will remain as is.

However, there is also a possibility of a 25 or 50 basis point hike in the next meeting on March 23, Medalla said. But a 75 bps hike is unlikely, he added.

Medalla is cautious in giving a figure, saying a lot can still change.

He recalled saying the December inflation rate is already the peak, but the January inflation even went higher at 8.7%, highest since 2008.

But he asserted that target inflation by the end of the year is below 4%.

“Main scenario is we structure projects for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s approval. will be below 4% by November or December,” Medalla said.

The Makati Business Club (MBC) has supported the Marcos administration’s public-private partnership (PPP) program as this will boost the country’s long-term economic growth.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who attended the BSP event, expects inflation to be lower in February, but admitted that prices of some goods remain a challenge.

“The price of oil has stabilized, peso also has stabilized, sa food na lang talaga. Nariyan na ang imported sugar,” said Diokno.

BSP INDEPENDENCE

Medalla, meanwhile, asserted the independence of the central bank in a speech before top banking officials.

At the 2023 Annual Reception for the Banking Community, Medalla said BSP was born 30 years ago because of the New Central Bank of 1993 and pursuant to the provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

This, he noted, made the BSP an independent organization from the national government and has remained so all these decades.

In a statement Friday, MBC chair Edgar Chua said the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) push for PPP projects will play a vital role in developing the needed infrastructure in the country.

NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on Thursday shared that the NEDA Board will be submitting the list of priority infra-

The list includes 3,700 priority infrastructure projects worth PHP15 trillion, Balisacan said.

These projects are up for the Chief Executive’s approval on March 9.

“His (Balisacan’s) revisions restore the attractiveness of PPPs,” Chua said. Chua also conveyed MBC’s support in amending the Build-Operate-Transfer law.

In a recent meeting with the business group, Balisacan said it has to tap the capital of the private sector to sustain the massive infrastructure development in the country. (PNA)