Peso retreats on faster-than-expected December inflation

Published January 05, 2021 06:37 PM By JON VIKTOR D. CABUENAS,GMA News

The Philippine peso retreated against the US dollar on Tuesday, after the release of faster-than-expected inflation in December.

The local currency lost 4.5 centavos to close at P48.065:$1 versus Monday's finish of P48.02:$1.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported inflation

at 3.5% in December, the third straight month of acceleration and the fastest in more than a year, due to the hike in food prices during the period.

"The peso weakened slightly from market worries after the December inflation report came out beyond market expectations and higher than the November's reading," Guian Angelo Dumalagan, market economist at the Land Bank of the Philippines, said in an email exchange.

The latest inflation print was within the central bank's forecast range of 2.9% to 3.7%, but was faster than the 3.3% recorded in November.—LDF, GMA News

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