Peso strengthens to one-month high

The Philippine peso closed stronger against the US dollar on Thursday, hitting its strongest footing against the greenback in a month.

The local currency gained 4.5 centavos to close at P61.35:$1 from Wednesday’s finish of P62.395:$1.

This is the peso’s strongest since May 11, 2026, when it closed at P61.15:$1.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the local unit’s strength came “a day after the better net foreign direct investment (FDI) data.”

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that net FDI inflows stood at $611 million in March 2026, higher than the $485 million in March 2025.

“The US dollar/peso exchange rate also lower recently partly due to the seasonal increase in OFW remittances and conversion to pesos to finance some tuition payments especially into June 2026 for the new local school year amid near record highs for the US dollar-peso exchange rate recently,” Ricafort said.

“It is worth noting that the peso exchange rate was relatively stable versus the US dollar recently amid possible intervention/smoothening of market volatility at P61.60-P61.70 levels/range highs recently; possible future BSP rate hikes especially on the next rate-setting meeting on June 18, 2026 to help stabilize the peso exchange rate, importation costs, and, in turn, also better manage inflation and inflation expectations,” he said. — BM, GMA News