(Bloomberg) -- The Philippine central bank remains “more on the hawkish side” on monetary policy, Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said Friday, indicating it’s not ready to cut interest rates just yet.

“We choose to be more cautious,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Nejra Cehic from Osaka, where Philippine officials are holding an economic briefing for investors. The central bank is monitoring the inflation slowdown and will see how price expectations pan out, he said.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas left the policy rate unchanged in its last two meetings as inflation cooled for a third month in January. The central bank is scheduled to make its next rate decision on March 21.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s pause in its rate-hike cycle has prompted Asian central banks to hold back on further tightening, with some, like India, even reducing interest rates. Guinigundo has said inflation remains well above the central bank’s 2 percent to 4 percent target, requiring policy makers to remain cautious. The central bank is forecasting inflation of 3.07 percent in 2019.

The deputy governor declined to say whether the central bank can move to a dovish stance.

The central bank cut the banks’ reserve-requirement ratio by 2 percentage points to 18 percent last year as part of its plan to bring it to single-digit levels over the medium term. The authority has been lowering its reliance on the instrument for managing monetary policy.

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