Peso weakens to P59:$1 amid missed economic growth targets

The Philippine peso sank back to the P59-to-a-dollar level on Thursday amid expectations that the country’s economic growth this year will miss hitting the government’s target.

The local currency shed 10.2 centavos to close at P59.022:$1 from Wednesday's finish of P58.92:$1.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso’s weakness came amid the local authorities’ expectations that “the target gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2025 could be missed.”

On Monday, Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the economy is “very unlikely” to meet the already downgraded growth target range of 5.5% to 6.5% set by the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).

If full-year growth falls below 5.5%, 2025 would mark the third consecutive year the Philippines falls short of its economic target. Growth hit 5.6% in 2024, below the 6.0%–6.5% goal; and 5.5% in 2023, lower than the 6.0%–7.0% target.

Economic expansion averaged 5% in the first nine months of 2025, after third-quarter GDP slowed to 4.0%—the weakest in four years, and the lowest since the 3.8% recorded in the first quarter of 2021 when strict COVID-19 lockdowns were in place.

Meanwhile, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said the country’s economic growth is expected to fall to between 4% to 5% this year, below the government's already trimmed-down target range of 5.5% to 6.5% and is likely to recover gradually by mid-2026 due to loss of investor confidence amid the flood control corruption scandal.

Ricafort said that an offsetting positive factor for the peso exchange rate versus the US dollar would be the markets’ “anticipation of a seasonal increase in OFW remittances and conversion to pesos for the rest of December 2025, in time of the Christmas holiday spending season.” –NB, GMA Integrated News