Peso to end 2019 at around P50:$1 —economists

The Philippine peso is seen firming up against the US dollar to end 2019 around the P50:$1 range as seasonal influx of remittances for the holidays support the local currency.

The local currency is now trading within 50.7 to 50.8 per dollar as remittances and started coming in for Christmas-related spending.

“The peso exchange rate could end 2019 at 50.00-50.50,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said.

“Peso may continue to seasonally appreciate versus the US dollar with the expected seasonal increase in OFW (overseas Filipino workers) remittances and conversion to pesos for Christmas-related spending in December,” Ricafort noted.

The peso is expected to strengthen further with expectation that the US-China trade dispute calms down , Union Bank of the Philippines chief economist Ruben Carlo Asuncion said.

“This development largely impacts the perception of how increasing protectionism is detrimental to global trade and eventually the world economy,” he said.

“Peso will also be affected by the expected seasonal factors. I expect the peso to appreciate to about P50 and even less than P50 by end 2019,” Asuncion noted.

While seasonal factors will definitely support peso as 2019 draws to a close, the local currency is expected to weaken within P51.50-P52.50 per dollar in 2020, Japanese banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Finance Group (MUFG) said, citing the government’s infrastructure spending to pick up and put pressure on importation. —VDS, GMA News