The Philippine central bank has no plans to hike interest rates despite the peso's weakness against the U.S. dollar, the country's finance minister said on Thursday.

"Policy rate will be adjusted based on inflation outlook," Recto said in a test message, adding that the outlook for inflation is within the central bank's 2% to 4% target.

Recto sits as the government's sole representative to the central bank's seven-member monetary board, which will next set rates on May 16.

A Bloomberg report earlier on Thursday quoted Recto saying the peso's depreciation would unlikely trigger a central bank rate hike. The Philippine central bank kept its benchmark rate steady at 6.50% for a fourth straight meeting on April 8, despite annual inflation picking up for a second straight month in March to 3.7%. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Martin Petty)