The Philippine peso slightly rebounded to 57.71 against the US dollar Friday from a 17-month low of 57.78 Thursday on increased trading volume.
Data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) showed that trading reached nearly $1.7 billion Friday, up from $1.4 billion the day before.
The peso is among the regional currencies that depreciated against the dollar in recent weeks amid the tension in the Middle East and the delayed interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
“The peso will remain challenged as the huge import bills for infrastructure, crude oil and rice continue to push up trade deficits to reach $55 for the year,” First Metro Investments Corp. economists said.
“The peso-dollar rate should have a depreciation bias as large importations for the infrastructure projects and rice imports keep trade deficits elevated,” the said.