MANILA, Jan. 1 -- Risks from elevated inflation rate and external factors kept the Philippine monetary authorities on their toes in 2023.

And while the policymaking Monetary Board (MB) tightened further the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) key rates to a 16-year high of 6.5 percent, with the hike this year alone at 100 basis points, monetary authorities said key rates are expected to be kept where it is for some time as inflation remains above target.

The rate of price increases slowed for the second consecutive month last November to 4.1 percent after reversing the downtrend last September when it accelerated to 6.1 percent due to faster upticks in food prices, among others.

It started the year at 8.7 percent, the highest since Nove...