Philippines Legal interest rate
Philippines Legal interest rate is 6 percent, in force since 1 Jul 2013. Last checked against the official source on 10 Aug 2026.
The Philippine legal interest rate: 6% per annum since 1 July 2013, set by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circular No. 799 for loans, forbearance and judgments, and matching the 6% legal interest the Civil Code already fixes for delay in paying a sum of money.
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| Current value | 6 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2013-07-01 |
| Official source | BSP Circular No. 799, Series of 2013 (Monetary Board Resolution No. 796 of 16 May 2013), Section 1, amending Section 2 of Circular No. 905 s. 1982: 'The rate of interest for the loan or forbearance of any money, goods or credits and the rate allowed in judgments, in the absence of an express contract as to such rate of interest, shall be six percent (6%) per annum' — effective 1 July 2013; Civil Code (Republic Act No. 386) Art. 2209: on delay in paying a sum of money the indemnity, absent stipulation, is 'the legal interest, which is six per cent per annum' |
| Last verified | 2026-08-10 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
6% per annum, one rate for civil and commercial obligations alike, applying to loans, to forbearance of money, goods or credits, and to judgments where no rate was expressly agreed. The setter is the BSP MONETARY BOARD, not the legislature: Circular 799 cut the rate from the 12% that Circular 905 s. 1982 had carried since the Usury Law ceilings were suspended, and the Supreme Court adopted it prospectively from 1 July 2013 in Nacar v. Gallery Frames (G.R. No. 189871, 13 August 2013), which also restated the computation rules; the Court restated them again en banc in Lara's Gifts & Decors, Inc. v. Midtown Industrial Sales, Inc. (G.R. No. 225433, 28 September 2021), leaving the 6% rate intact. TRAPS: (1) The 12%/6% cut is PROSPECTIVE — obligations that fell due before 1 July 2013 accrue 12% per annum up to 30 June 2013 and 6% thereafter, so long-running claims need a split computation. (2) 6% is a FALLBACK, not a cap. Act No. 2655 (the Usury Law) ceilings remain suspended by CB Circular No. 905 s. 1982, so there is no statutory maximum on agreed interest; courts instead strike down rates they find unconscionable and substitute the 6% legal rate. (3) On judgments the 6% runs on the total award, including accrued interest, from finality until satisfaction — that final-stage interest is the only compounding the doctrine allows; Art. 2212 separately allows accrued interest to earn legal interest from judicial demand. (4) Interest on damages other than a loan or forbearance runs from the date of demand where the claim is reasonably ascertainable, otherwise from the date of judgment. (5) The Circular is BSP regulation, changeable by Monetary Board resolution without an Act of Congress — it is not a statutory constant, though it has stood since 2013. Retrieval note: the BSP-hosted circular PDF is a scan with no text layer; the Supreme Court E-Library copy at elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/10/70066 presents a TLS chain automated fetchers reject.
Get it programmatically
curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/ph/statutory-interest
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/ph/statutory-interest/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://asiaref.dev/provenance/ph/statutory-interestOther Philippines series: BSP Target Reverse Repurchase (RRP) Rate · Value-Added Tax (standard rate) · VAT registration threshold · Minimum Wage (lowest regional non-agriculture daily floor) · Public Holidays 2026 · Consumer Price Inflation (headline, y/y) · Corporate Income Tax (regular rate) · Withholding tax rates · Personal Income Tax (graduated schedule) · Statutory social-insurance contributions
The same figure elsewhere: Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Singapore · South Korea · Sri Lanka · all 28