Mubasher: The Philippine central bank on Thursday held its benchmark interest rate steady, for the first time in six meetings as inflation pressures cooled, and the peso (PHP) strengthened.

The rate on the overnight reverse repurchase facility was left unchanged at 4.75%, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a statement in Manila on Thursday. This came in line with the forecasts by 11 out of 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

The central bank hiked its interest rates by a total of 175 basis points (bps) at the past five straight meetings to rein in inflation, which retreated for the first time in nearly a year last November to 6%.

“Recent headline inflation readings indicate signs of receding price pressures as constraints on food supply continue to ease with the implementation of various non-monetary measures,” the central bank said.

“Inflation expectations have also steadied given the decline in international crude oil prices and the stabilization of the peso.”

By 8:58 am GMT, the USD/PHP pair went down 0.04% to PHP 52.6830.