Peso softens on slower economic growth

The peso softened against the greenback on Thursday, dragged by weak economic data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The local currency lost 11 centavos to close at P52.86:$1 from P52.75:$1 Wednesday.

“The peso weakened today following the relatively softer gross domestic product (GDP) growth report released today, which has reduced some of the peso’s appeal over the dollar,” Guian Angelo Dumalagan, market economist at Land Bank of the Philippines, said.

The GDP grew by 6.2 percent for the full year 2018, compared with 6.7 percent in 2017.

It was the slowest in three years since the economy grew by 5.8 percent in 2015.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia noted the weak performance of the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, as well as soaring inflation during the year. —VDS, GMA News