Philippine peso hits historic low P59.735:$1 amid Middle East conflict

The Philippine peso sank to its fresh historic low against the US dollar on Friday, hitting its weakest footing twice in only a week, amid uncertainties due to the Middle East conflict.

The local currency shed 35 centavos to close at P59.735:$1 from Thursday's close of P59.385:$1.

This is a new record-low for the peso after it surpassed the previous historic low of P59.50:$1 seen only last Monday, March 9, 2026.

During Friday’s trading, the local unit opened at P59.55:$1 and hit an intraday low of P59.75$1 and a high of P59.41:$1.

In a commentary, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso’s weakness came after global crude oil prices once again went up to among the highest in more than three-and-a-half years or since August 2022 “amid risk on global oil supply chains despite plans for record use of oil reserves, as higher global crude oil prices could lead to higher inflation and slower economic growth.”

“For Monday, the US dollar/peso exchange rate could range at 59.50-59.80 levels,” Ricafort said.

An offsetting factor support the peso could be Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr.’s signal that the central bank is intervening recently in the foreign exchange market with a statement that the local currency is unlikely to hit P60:$1 soon, according to the economist.

“The Philippine central bank/BSP has no deliberate policy to target a level for the peso but it worries when the local currency’s depreciation is sharp; what we do is prevent sharp peso depreciation,” he said. –NB, GMA Integrated News