(March 26): The Philippine central bank delivered a surprise off-cycle decision to hold its benchmark interest rate as it sought to reassure the market that it’s constantly assessing the Iran war’s impact. “To raise the policy rate at this time would delay the recovery,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a statement when it announced that it kept the key rate at 4.25%. The central bank, at its February meeting, reduced borrowing costs by 25 basis points, bringing total reduction to 225 basis points since August 2024 in a bid to support economic recovery. Concerns over the deepening war in Iran have driven the Philippine peso to a record low, past the key 60-per-dollar level, which could stoke imported inflation. The peso was down 0.3% at 60.25 against the dollar at 3.51pm in Manila on Thursday.

Source: The Edge Markets March 26, 2026 07:43 UTC