Peso falls back to P54:$1 level

THE peso returned to the P54:$ 1 level on Monday with an analyst pointing to the country’s trade and current account deficits as triggering the decline.

The currency, which added 10 centavos last Friday, opened at P54.10 against the greenback and dropped to as low as P54.28 during the day.

It closed at P53.11, down 14 centavos, to its lowest since a P54.13:$ 1 finish— a near 13- year low— just last Wednesday.

“PHP ( Philippine peso) weakness comes together with some weakness of IDR ( Indonesian rupiah) and INR ( Indian rupee),” ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said.

“The currencies represent currencies with weaker than expected external trade and current account balances,” he added.

The government last week reported that the country’s trade deficit hit $ 3.546 billion in July, widening the year- to- date gap to $ 22.490 billion.

The country’s current account— a major component of the balance of payments— was also reported to have hit a deficit of $ 3.087 billion in the first half, equivalent to 1.9 percent of gross domestic product.

“The general market environment for EM ( emerging market) currencies also turned negative on renewed US- CH ( United StatesChina) trade dispute as the US readies tariffs for $ 200- billion worth of Chinese exports to the