Philippines to cut banks’ reserve ratio by 200 bps

More bite: A man wearing protective mask walks past an image of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila. The legislature has granted Duterte extraordinary powers to fight the coronavirus pandemic. — AP

MANILA: The Philippine central bank is infusing more funds into the economy, slashing big lenders’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by two percentage points and flagging more cuts to come.

“The reduction is intended to calm the financial markets and encourage banks to continue lending to both the retail and corporate sectors, ” governor Benjamin Diokno said in a mobile phone message.