Philippine c.bank holds rate steady, as expected

    MANILA, April 22 (Reuters) - The Philippine central bank on Thursday kept its overnight borrowing rate at 4 percent, as
expected, but further reduced a short-term lending scheme as it
gradually withdraws stimulus measures introduced during the
global financial crisis.
    The budget for short-term money under a peso rediscounting
facility was cut in half to a pre-crisis level of 20 billion
pesos ($450 million).
    
    KEY DATA: 
    Announcement date         Borrowing rate    Lending rate 
                               (overnight, percent) 
                
 --------------------------------------------------------   
 April    2010                  4.0              6.0 
 March    2010                  4.0              6.0 
 January  2010                  4.0              6.0 
 December 2009                  4.0              6.0 
 November 2009                  4.0              6.0 
 October  2009                  4.0              6.0 
 August   2009                  4.0              6.0 
 July     2009                  4.0              6.0 
 May      2009                  4.25             6.25 
 April    2009                  4.50             6.5 
 March    2009                  4.75             6.75 
 January  2009                  5.0              7.0 
 December 2008                  5.5              7.5 
 November 2008                  6.0              8.0 
    Note: The Philippine central bank holds a rate-setting
meeting every six weeks. 
    
    CONTEXT: 
   - All 12 economists polled by Reuters this week had expected
no change in the policy rate, but they also see rates rising by
25 basis points at one of the following three policy meetings. 
    - Four economists expect the central bank to raise rates at
its next policy meeting on June 3, less than a month after
national elections on May 10, with a majority, or eight analysts,
seeing a rise at either the July 15 or Aug. 26 meetings. 
    - Central bank Governor Amando Tetangco has said there was no
risk of asset bubbles in the country so far despite the rise in
property and stock prices, but said authorities have the leeway
to tighten monetary policy to counter such risks even if
inflation remained under control. [ID:nSGE63B04G] [ID:nSGE63D0AI]
    - The central bank began unwinding crisis-driven liquidity
measures in January, raising by 50 basis points to 4 percent the
rate for lending short-term money under a peso rediscounting
window. This was followed by cuts in the budget for the facility.
    - Last month, Diwa Guinigundo, deputy central bank governor,
said the outlook for Philippine inflation was "very, very
benign," although the central bank was watching for any risks of
a build-up in excess liquidity. [ID:nSGE6360GL]
    - Tetangco said last month it was likely there would be no
change in interest rates in the first half unless risks to the
inflation outlook emerged. [ID:nnSGE62M004]
    - The central bank slashed rates by a total of 200 basis
points between December 2008 and July 2009 to soften the blow of
the global recession.