In a press briefing, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the central bank is set to soft launch its own debt papers in the first quarter of the year, with the formal issuance slated in the second quarter. Last February, President Duterte signed Republic Act 11211 or an act amending RA 7653, otherwise known as the New Central Bank Act. This gave the BSP an expanded toolkit as its authority to issue debt papers as part of its operations was restored. The new law also raised the capitalization of the central bank to P200 billion from the current P50 billion. It is intended to help ensure that money market rates move within a reasonable close range around the BSP’s policy rate.

Source: Philippine Star January 19, 2020 16:18 UTC