BSP keeps overnight interest rates steady

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday kept its overnight interest rates steady to encourage bank lending activities and help spur the economy. The local central bank's overnight interest rates have been unchanged at 7.50 percent for borrowing, and 9.75 percent for lending, since a 25-basis point hike in October last year. The decision was widely expected by financial markets given the Philippines' manageable inflation rate. Three economists polled by GMANews.TV had all expected the central bank to maintain key interest rates at their present level. The BSP has said that it expects the rise in consumer prices to further ease for the rest of 2006 after the annual inflation in July came in at 6.4 percent, which was the lowest in two years. - GMANews.TV