A worker wearing a protective face mask uses a mop to clean the floor inside a room at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Metro Manila, the Philippines, March 17, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

The Philippines still has ample monetary space after recently cutting its key interest rate and approving a policy that effectively reduced the reserve requirement ratio for banks, central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno said. 

The new rule allowing banks to count lending to micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises as compliance to the reserve requirement can effectively be seen as “more than a 2 percentage points cut,” in the reserve ratio, Diokno said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel on Sunday. 

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The central bank lowered its key rate by 50 basis points to 2.75 percent in an unscheduled move on April 16, bringing this year’s total reduction to 125 basis points.  

It also slashed the reserve ratio by 2 percentage points earlier this month.  

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The bank has purchased government debt and provided a slew of relief measures to lenders to help them cope with the coronavirus pandemic.