Peso hits fresh historic low vs dollar at P60.97:$1 on intraday trading

The Philippine peso dived to its fresh historic low on Tuesday morning’s trading, nearly touching P61-to-a-dollar mark, still due to global uncertainties resulting from the Middle East war.

The local currency touched an intraday low of P60.97:$1, after opening at P60.8:$1 and surpassing the previous close of P60.71:$1 on Monday.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the peso’s weakness on “lack of progress on negotiations between the US and Iran for more than two weeks already” and “the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz that could reduce global crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.”

Ricafort also cited recent “local political noise” that could distract the passage of priority legislative reform measures on further improving governance standards, fiscal management, and on the overall economy. — RSJ, GMA News