Economics
Southeast Asia Virus Hotspots Indonesia, Philippines Cut Rates in Surprise
- Most economists surveyed expected both banks to stay on hold
- Previous easing in two countries failed to boost bank lending
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The two countries grappling with Southeast Asia’s worst coronavirus outbreaks unleashed more monetary easing in unexpected moves, and pledged to keep policy accommodative moving forward.
Bank Indonesia lowered its key rate Thursday by 25 basis points to 3.75%, its first cut in four months, as 11 of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted. Minutes later, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas cut by the same amount to 2.0%, as only five of 18 economists expected.