SHIZUOKA, Japan — Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy maker Makoto Sakurai on Thursday warned against “recklessly” ramping up stimulus just to prop up prices, blaming soft inflation on structural factors that were positive for the economy.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday mooted the idea of a common trading currency for East Asia that would be pegged to gold, describing the existing currency trading in the region as manipulative.

At the 122^nd Department of Finance (DoF) anniversary hosted by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III on May 6, it was a wonderful reunion of former DoF Secretaries: Prime Minister Cesar Virata, Ed Espiritu, Jose Pardo, Gary Teves and former Undersecretaries Romy Bernardo, Kune Gison, Chil Soriano, Ruben Fruto, among others. Present were current DoF Undersecretaries and agency heads: Karl Chua, Gil Beltran, Antonette Tionko, Bayani Agabin. Also present were Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. President Bobby Tan, Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Tonette Ibe, Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay, National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon, Development Bank of the Philippines President Manny Herbosa, Land Bank of the Philippines’ Cecille Borromeo, and Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency head Albert Pascual, among others.

THE PESO recovered against the dollar on Thursday as market players positioned ahead of US gross domestic product (GDP) growth data released last night.

BIDS FOR term deposits declined further on Wednesday ahead of the first round of cuts to lenders’ reserve requirement ratios (RRR) taking effect this week.

THE SOCIAL SECURITY System (SSS) condoned P9.5 billion in short-term penalties of calamity-affected members under the second round of its loan restructuring program (LRP).

THE CENTRAL BANK has rationalized the framework for the selection of external auditors of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs) to streamline and centralize requirements across agencies.

THE US TREASURY added Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam to a watch list for currency manipulation, putting their foreign-exchange policies under scrutiny.

THE PESO declined slightly against the dollar on Wednesday, dragged by upbeat consumer sentiment data in the United States as well as persistent risk-off sentiment due to the trade war between the US and China.

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of reissued 10-year Treasury bonds (T-bond) on offer on Tuesday amid overwhelming demand as investors positioned ahead of the first tranche of cuts in banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRR).

SECURITY BANK Corp. has named its new president and chief executive officer effective next semester after its current head announced his retirement.

THE PEOPLE’S Bank of China (PBoC) is acting to increase the supply of short-term funding to banks after the seizure of a regional lender rattled domestic markets.