Marcos doesn’t want peso to reach P60:$1 —Palace

The peso sliding to 60 against the US dollar could raise the country’s debt, a scenario President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wants to avoid, Malacañang said Thursday.

“Kapag tumaas ng P60, bumaba yung value ng peso, definitely mag-i-increase yung debt natin. Because yung palitan, tataas,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a briefing.

(If it reaches P60, the value of the peso drops, and our debt will definitely increase, because the exchange rate will go up.)

“Ayaw po sana, ayaw po ng Pangulo na umabot pa ito sa P60 na palitan so abangan natin kung ano yung mapag-uusapan ng BSP patungkol dun,” she added.

(The President does not want to reach a P60 exchange rate, so let us see what the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will discuss about it.)

The local currency closed at P59.46:$1 on January 15, surpassing the previous historic low of P59.44:$1 seen on the previous day.

In a commentary, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso’s weakness resulted from the market’s anticipation of a possible 25 basis-point cut by the BSP.

Ricafort added that the peso staying at “59 levels” for more than two-and-a-half months already, or since the latter part of October 2025, "could signal forex intervention to smoothen any volatility.”

READ: How Filipinos are affected by the peso-dollar exchange rate

The exchange rate reflects the impact of international and domestic factors. Locally, the peso is affected by inflation trends, trade deficits, remittance inflows, and policies of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Overseas, the dollar is influenced by the decisions of the Federal Reserve, global oil prices, and investor sentiment, which in turn play a key role in determining the peso’s direction.

A weaker peso is not always bad news, as it gives gains to several industries that bring in foreign currency and support the country’s economic growth.

Among them are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families, who receive more as every dollar sent home translates to more pesos, driving household spending and fueling domestic consumption, a key driver of the growth.

It is also beneficial for freelancers, export-oriented firms, and business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, who are mostly paid in dollars.

However, a weaker peso also means rising prices of imported goods and services, as materials sourced overseas will cost more, and could possibly push inflation higher.

A weaker peso also erodes its purchasing power from the point of view of local residents, since more pesos are needed to pay for the same local product due to inflation. — BM, GMA Integrated News