Peso ‘one of the more stable in Asia’ – DoF

THE Finance department on Wednesday touted the peso’s stability amid continued global uncertainties and analysts’ forecasts of a further weakening this year.

“The Philippine peso continues to be one of the more stable Asian currencies despite the uncertainties in the world market brought about by the normalization of Fed monetary policy, Brexit, volatile fuel prices and US- China trade war,” the department said in an economic bulletin.

The currency, it added, continues to move in tandem with Asian counterparts and is one of the least volatile — tied in third with the South Korean won — in the world’s fastest- growing region.

The peso was also said to be the seventh among the Asian currencies that posted the biggest appreciation last month, gaining 0.73 to P52.17:$ 1 from P52.56:$ 1.

On average, 12 Asian currencies appreciated by 0.79 percent.

The peso depreciated by 5.4 percent last year, ranking fourth among 12 Asian currencies in a region where the average depreciation was said to be 3.03 percent.

The currency ended 2018 at P52.58 versus the greenback, down sharply from its 2017 close of P49.93:$ 1.

On Wednesday, the peso closed at P52.23:$ 1, up 18 centavos from Monday.

Financial markets were closed on Tuesday in celebration of Chinese New Year.

The Finance department’s optimism comes as analysts have projected a further weakening to as much as $ 55 to the dollar this year.

The most pessimistic outlook came from Standard Chartered Bank analysts who projected the unit to close 2019 at P55 to a dollar.

“The PHP (Philippine peso) faces medium-term challenges including twin deficits, still- elevated inflation and low real rates,” Standard Chartered bank