Philippine central bank hikes rates by 25 bps, as expected

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points for a second consecutive policy meeting on Thursday to curb red-hot inflation.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) lifted the overnight reverse repurchase facility rate to 2.50%, as expected by most economists in a June 13-20 Reuters poll.

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales, Karen Lema and Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Martin Petty)