This is the local currency’s weakest level since November 2022. At its weakest, the peso closed at P59 to a dollar in October 2022.
Trading was heavy on the spot foreign exchange market with $1.62 billion changing hands, compared to only $1.2 billion on Monday.
Bankers said dovish comments from the leadership of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, even as the policy making Monetary Board kept its key interest rate unchanged last week, contributed to the peso’s weakness.
In succeeding interviews, BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said the monetary regulator was looking at the possibility of lowering interest rates by as early as August. He also revealed that a large reduction in banks’ reserve requirements — considered by some to be a de facto loosening of monetary policy since it releases for cash into the financial system — is on the cards.
Senior Reporter
