Peso slides to near historic low

The Philippine peso ended the week on a soft note, near its historic low, on Friday amid lingering global economic uncertainties due to the Middle East war.

The local currency shed 22 centavos to close at P60.70:$1 — nearly touching the record low of P60.748:$1— from its Thursday’s close of P60.48:$1.

The peso’s weakness was due to the “after lack of progress on US-Iran negotiations to de-escalate the war, the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz that could reduce global crude oil supplies,” according to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort.

Ricafort added that the US dollar gained traction due to the payment for some of the country’s crude oil imported or hedged recently to further increase local supplies as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed since the war in the Middle East started since February 28, 2026. — BAP, GMA News