Philippine Finance Secretary: Oil Price Impact May Prompt Central Bank to Raise Rates in April

Philippine Finance Minister Frederick Go said that if oil prices continue to rise, the country's central bank may tighten monetary policy next month. Go stated in an interview on Tuesday, "If oil prices continue to remain high, the Monetary Board is very likely to consider tightening policy at the next meeting." Go is a member of the Monetary Board of the Philippine central bank, and the next policy meeting is scheduled for April 23. A rate hike would signal a sudden shift in monetary policy for the Philippine central bank. The bank had just lowered borrowing costs by 25 basis points at the February meeting to support economic recovery. Frederick Go, who took office in November last year, stated that if the conflict in the Middle East is a short-term event, its impact on domestic GDP growth "will be less than 10 basis points," but "if the conflict continues for more than 6 months, the impact on our GDP growth will be more significant."