• The Philippine central bank is poised to extend its interest-rate pause for a third straight meeting, as the focus shifts to when the authority might start easing monetary policy amid cooling price pressures. All 20 analysts in a Bloomberg survey see the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas keeping its benchmark target rate at 6.5% on Thursday.
• While headline inflation at 2.8% in January is well within the central bank’s 2%-4% target range, policymakers led by Governor Eli Remolona are expected to bide their time — as they await the US Federal Reserve’s policy actions, as well as gauge wider risks from surging food prices.
• The Philippine economy also grew faster than Southeast Asian peers last year even as the central bank continued its aggressive monetary tightening campaign, providing scope for the BSP to keep borrowing costs at a nearly 17-year high and hold off a pivot to easing for now.