Peso weakness traced to poor regional sentiment, local political uncertainty

Peso-dollar trading over the past months has shown continued depreciation in the local currency in what the central bank sees as a result of negative market sentiment across Asia, but which private analysts view as being exacerbated further by political uncertainty ahead of next year’s elections.

The peso’s decline hit a new five-year low of P46.81 to $1 on August 24. By September 3, Thursday, the rate has firmed slightly to close at P46.73.