Philippines Raises Reserve Ratio, Keeps Key Rate Unchanged

The Philippine central bank ordered lenders to set aside more money as reserves a second time this year to curb liquidity and price pressure, while holding the benchmark rate for a 12th meeting.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised the reserve requirement ratio for universal and commercial banks by one percentage point to 20 percent effective May 30, it said in Manila today, as predicted by eight of nine economists in a Bloomberg News survey. It kept the rate it pays lenders for overnight deposits at a record-low 3.5 percent, as forecast by 19 of 21 economists.