MANOLA – The Philippine peso depreciated against the US dollar at the start of the week, as market players chose to flock to safe-haven assets given uncertainties on global trade.
The local currency shed 6 centavos to close at P52.22:$1 on Monday versus last Friday’s finish of P52.16:$1.
“The peso depreciated today as geopolitical risks abroad continue to drive safe-haven demand towards the greenback, specifically the broadening tensions between the US and China trade tensions as well as uncertainty on the European parliamentary elections over the weekend,” Guian Angelo Dumalagan, market economist at the Land Bank of the Philippines, said in an email interview.
China last week accused officials of the United States of lying to the public on the ongoing trade war, effectively rising tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
“Talks to end the trade dispute collapsed earlier this month, with the two sides in a stalemate over US demands that China change its policies to address a number of key US grievances, including theft of intellectual property and subsidies for state enterprises,” Reuters said in a report.
The US has already slapped higher tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, which prompted Beijing to retaliate and ban American firms from doing business with giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (GMA News)
