LIMA, April 29 (Reuters) - Peru's central bank chief on Friday called a recent court ruling "an outrage" for including the bank's employees in a merit-based labor regime for the civil service, saying it undermines the bank's autonomy.

Julio Velarde, president of the central bank for the past decade, said he asked the Constitutional Court for a clarification after it said that a labor law passed in 2013 must also apply to the central bank and other autonomous entities such as the banking superintendence and the tax agency.

The law, which aims to modernize the country's civil service, eased restrictions on the firing of employees and made hiring more competitive.

The regime is overseen by a special bureau dependent on the president's cabinet, which could subject the central bank to the political whims of whomever is in office, Velarde said.

"What's been done is an outrage ... it affects the autonomy of the central bank," Velarde told reporters. "It could really turn into tit-for-tat: Give me approval for this unthinkable thing for the central bank in exchange for that."

Velarde said the bank was now evaluating next steps.

(Reporting by Teresa Cespedes; Editing by Leslie Adler)