The Philippine central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady on Thursday, as expected, in line with the outlook for the inflation rate to cool.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas left the rate on its overnight reverse repurchase facility unchanged at 4.75 percent, as predicted by 11 out of 13 analysts in a Reuters poll.

The central bank raised rates by a total 175 basis points at the past five consecutive meetings to tame inflation, which eased for the first time in nearly a year in November to 6.0 percent..

From :Arabnews