Standard Chartered’s Jonathan Koh and Edward Lee now expect Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep its policy rate unchanged at the 27 August meeting, abandoning a previously projected hike. BSP seen on hold but still hawkish"We now expect Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep its policy rate unchanged at its 27 August meeting, versus our previous forecast of a 25bps hike." "Consequently, we lower our end-2026 and end-2027 policy rate forecasts to 4.75% (5% prior) and 4.25% (4.5% prior), respectively." "We lower our 2026 GDP growth forecast to 3.5% (4.0% prior) on softer-than-expected growth in H1." "We also revise down our 2026 CPI inflation forecast to 5.9% (6.5% prior) on lower-than-expected inflation to date."