Peso hits new low a day after breaching P61-to-dollar level

MANILA, April 30 ------ The Philippine peso continued to weaken against the US dollar, falling to a new low of P61.567 at the end of Wednesday’s trading, according to the website of the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

This fresh depreciation came just a day after the peso breached the psychological barrier of 61 to the dollar. The peso opened Wednesday’s trading at 61.20 to the dollar, and reached an intraday low of 61.67 to the dollar. Since the outbreak of the Middle East war at the end of February, the peso has breached record low after record low, and crossed the psychological barrier of 60 to the dollar.

The peso’s depreciation may be seen as a boon for families of OFWs, who stand to get more pesos for every dollar remitted to the country. But it also makes imports such as oil more expensive as these items need to be paid for in dollars. Inflation already breached the 4 percent upper limit of economic managers in March, as oil prices skyrocketed and pushed the prices of other goods up. A weak peso also makes it more expensive to service the country’s debts, a third of which is owed to foreign creditors, and most are denominated in dollars. A portion of the country’s domestic debt is also denominated in dollars.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com