28.07.202606:33:20UTC+00Philippine Peso Trades Near Record Low

The Philippine peso traded at around 61.7 per US dollar in late July, hovering near its record low. This came as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas maintained only limited intervention in the foreign exchange market and signaled that further monetary tightening this year is unlikely.

The central bank stepped in modestly last week to preserve orderly market conditions, with Governor Eli Remolona emphasizing that aggressively defending the peso against a strong US dollar would merely drain the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Although policymakers remain concerned that the peso’s weakness could stoke imported inflation, Remolona noted that the probability of sharp interest rate hikes to return inflation to target is low.

Persistent US dollar strength and elevated crude oil prices—factors that have weighed heavily on Asia’s oil-importing economies—continue to pressure the peso, leaving the currency down more than 7% against the greenback since the start of the year.