MANILA – The Philippine peso slid against its US counterpart on Monday, weighed down by local and global concerns.
The local currency depreciated by 9 centavos to close Monday at P54.11:$1 from last Friday’s P54.02:$1.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. economist Michael Ricafort said the peso was down on Monday as global concerns dragged sentiment.
“Weaker peso partly due to stronger US dollar vs. major global currencies especially vs. the euro after wider budget deficit / fiscal concerns in Italy which weighed on some emerging market currencies,” he said in a text message.
Ricafort said the market is also awaiting the release of September inflation figures on Friday, October 5, with consensus at 6.8 percent.
“Higher inflation, largely due to Typhoon Ompong that could have driven food/rice prices higher could reduce the peso’s purchasing power,” he said.
“Higher global oil prices, near four-year highs, also partly weighed on the peso as this could widen trade deficit,” added Ricafort. (GMA News)
