The peso on Tuesday slumped to a 17-year low against the US dollar which sustained its strength against global currencies.
The peso shed P0.15 or 0.3 percent to close at 55.23 a dollar, down from 55.08 on Monday. It was the local currency’s weakest finish in nearly 17 years or since it settled at 55.26 to the dollar on Oct. 25, 2005. Total volume traded reached $710 million Tuesday, down from $976.26 million Monday.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., attributed the peso’s depreciation to the “latest headline inflation data at a new 3.5-year high of 6.1 percent and after the higher US dollar vs. major global currencies.”
“The latest movement in the local currency market was also partly brought about [by] some slight upward correction/pickup in the US Treasury yields [but still among one-month lows] and in global crude oil prices [but still among one-month lows],” Ricafort said.