Peso retreats on weak spending data

The Philippine peso retreated against the greenback on Wednesday, following the release of weak data on local spending.

The local currency lost 15 centavos to close at P50.68:$1 from Tuesday's finish of P50.53:$1.

According to Security Bank Corp. chief economist and assistant vice president Robert Dan Roces, the latest development came after the release of March and first-quarter spending data.

"Reacted on budget balance numbers, plus headline risk coming from US-China and China-HK," he said in an email interview.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported a 4.1% increase in national government disbursements on infrastructure and other capital outlays in March to P62.2 billion from P59.7 billion the same month last year.

However, the first-quarter infrastructure spending fell 12.4% to P156.1 billion, also 18.3% lower than the P191.1-billion goal for the quarter, which the government attributed to the lockdowns amid the coronavirus disease pandemic.

Meanwhile, investors were also concerned about the rising tensions between China and the United States, the world's biggest economies.

US President Donald Trump was reported to have said he is preparing to take action against China this week over effort to impose national security laws on Hong Kong.

"Worsening relations between the world's two biggest economies will further hobble global growth, already in the doldrums due to the coronavirus pandemic worldwide," a Reuters report said. — RSJ, GMA News