the philippine central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged as the economy has shown some signs of recovery from the covid19 pandemic bangko sentral ng pilipinas on thursday held its benchmark overnight borrowing rate steady at 200 and its corresponding lending rate at 250 all six economists polled by the wall street journal had expected the central bank would stand pat on its policy rate thirdquarter gross domestic product rose 71 from a low base a year earlier following a 120 expansion in the apriljune quarter government data showed last week although the economy is regaining momentum following the recent surge of covid19 infections and containment measures there is a long way to go before the economy fully recovers and the central bank is unlikely to tighten monetary policy any time soon some economists say the countrys consumer price index rose 46 in october from a year earlier above the central banks 24 target range