Roxas vows to work for lower interest rates

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II vowed yesterday to work for a continued lowering of interest rates now that he is a member of the Monetary Board.

According to Roxas, "we want to ease interest rates, or the cost of money, so it will not be a hindrance to business."

He said the business sector is currently adopting a "wait and see" attitude due to the slowdown in the US and Japanese economies which could adversely affect the export sector.

He said the government continues to suffer from a budget deficit, while the banking system still has to recover from the Asian economic and financial crisis.

Roxas had attended the MB meeting last Thursday when the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas decided to lower by 50 basis points its key policy rates.

Roxas said the MB decision to lower its key policy rates by another 50 basis points was in response to the rate cut made by the US Federal Reserve and in part, to government‘s "desire to ease the burden of business people."

However, the continued rate cut, Roxas said, would be done "mindful of inflationary pressure."

Roxas has reassumed a seat in the Monetary Board as representative of the Department of Trade and Industry.

The DTI, under the charter of the BSP, is supposed to be one of the two government representative of the MB.

However, the Finance Secretary took over the MB membership during the time of former Finance Secretary Jose Pardo who also headed the powerful Economic Coordinating Committee (ECC) during the Estrada administration.