‘Peso most stable currency in Asia’

The Philippine peso has emerged as the most stable currency among its Asian counterparts even amid the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

In a report, Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran said the peso remained resilient despite the headwinds faced by the global economy due to the health crisis.

“Despite the rising risks in the global economy, heightened by the spread of COVID-19, the collapse of global markets, the extreme volatility in currencies and the downgrading of credit ratings of many economies, the peso remained firm, appreciating from year-end 2019 level,” Beltran said.

As of July 8, the local currency appreciated by 2.21 percent to 49.53 compared to the 50.66 to $1 level recorded by the end of 2019.

Beltran said the peso ranked first among the Asian currencies that maintained their value against the dollar this year.

It was followed by the Hong Kong dollar, Taiwan dollar and the Japanese yen which appreciated by 2.07 percent, 1.68 percent and 0.87 percent from their end-2019 levels, respectively. “The peso-dollar exchange rate also remains stable in 2020, its coefficient of variation at 0.73 percent, ranking third among 12 regional currencies and lower than the 1.86 percent Asian average,” Beltran said.

Beltran attributed the peso’s strength and stability to the country’s strong balance of payments (BOP) position and rising gross international reserves.

According to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s BOP surplus hit a 16-month high of $2.43 billion in May, which is about 2.6 times higher than the $928 million recorded in the same month last year.

From January to May, the BOP surplus amounted to $4.03 billion, 22.3 percent smaller than the $5.19 billion surplus recorded in the same period last year.

Turn to B6

Beltran said the surplus in BOP was driven by slower imports and outward payments “amid shrinking foreign demand.”

On the other hand, the GIR of end-May rose by 9.3 percent to an all-time high of $93.3 billion from $85.4 billion in the same period last year.

This is equivalent to 8.4 months worth of imports of goods and services, up from 7.4 months in May 2019.