MANILA, May 16 (Reuters) - The Philippine central bank on Thursday signalled it could cut interest rates as early as August buoyed by fresh inflation and growth numbers, after it kept its key policy rate steady for a fifth straight meeting.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said its policy-making monetary board voted to keep its reverse repurchase rate unchanged at 6.50%, which was correctly predicted by all 23 economists in a Reuters poll.
"We are somewhat less hawkish than before," BSP Governor Eli Remolona told a press conference, adding that it was possible rates could be cut in August.
The central bank lowered its risk-adjusted inflation forecast for this year to 3.8% from 4.0% previously, but slightly raised its projection for next to 3.7% from 3.5%, saying risks to the outlook continued to lean to the upside.
Both forecasts were within the central bank's 2.0%-4.0% forecast for both years. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Mikhail Flores; Editing by John Mair and Subhranshu Sahu)
