BSP to move

could happen any time this year.

Meanwhile, the European Commission Consumer Confidence Indicator came out far lower than expected, according to the latest reports. It printed -6.20 against market expectations of -4.90.

A recent opinion poll also showed that Marine Le Pen was gaining ground against her rivals for the French election. OpinionWay showed that support for Le Pen rose to 27 percent, while Emmanuel Macron and Francois Fillon stayed unchanged at 20 percent each.

External payments deficit

“We have also some domestic concerns like the external payments deficit in January, but again for me this is episodic. It’s one of 12 data points for 2017 in which we expect some rebound Guinigundo said, referring to the $9-million balance of payments

Looking ahead, he said the BSP continues to see the resiliency of the economy. “Public spending, in all likelihood, supported by higher revenues and the proposed tax reform, will buttress domestic demand and keep the growth momentum,” he said.

Guinigundo also sees remittances and business process outsourcing revenues, along with government spending, continuing to drive economic growth.

The peso dollar rate is no different, he stressed.

- tilities, but at the end of the day, will be supported by our robust macrofundamentals. The BSP will keep its eye on the ball and its feet on the ground,” he said.

economist Victor Abola said that means the central bank is trying to ease speculation that adds pressure on the peso.

“What the BSP is trying to tell banks is not to speculate and add to the pressure on the peso,” he said.

Abola also noted there is a tendency for the peso to depreciate because of strong demand for the greenback as US economic growth continues to accelerate.

“Besides, the US has been performing well and investors are putting some money in dollar assets,” he said.

The latest data showed that the US leading economic index (LEI) – the Conference Board’s economic forecast for the US economy – climbed 0.6 percent month- on- month in January from an estimated 0.5 percent in December.