Peso slides to P45.46 vs US dollar

MANILA, Philippines - Jitters over which way interest rates would go dragged down the peso Tuesday, currency dealers said. The local currency lost twenty-one-and-a-half centavos to close at P45.46 against the dollar from Monday’s P45.245. It opened strong at P45.15, and reached a high of P45.10 in intraday trading, helped by a slew of foreign exchange inflows into the bond market. But uncertainties over the direction of interest rates pushed the peso down. Analysts have said only a 50 basis-point rate hike would help the peso reverse its slide. The policymaking Monetary Board is scheduled to meet tomorrow to decide on rates. "What we’re seeing is a consolidation ahead of the central bank meeting," Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. senior vice-president Marcelo E. Ayes said. The peso closed near its intraday low of P45.475. It averaged P45.264, with $834.86 million worth of dollars changing hands. — Maria Eloisa I. Calderon, BusinessWorld