Peso declines vs dollar as COVID-19 cases continue to climb
THE PESO weakened against the dollar on Friday as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases continued to surge.
The local unit closed at P51.35 per dollar on Friday, sinking by 17 centavos against its P51.18 finish on Thursday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.
The peso opened at P51.25 versus the dollar. Its intraday high was at P51.18, while its worst showing was at P51.37 against the greenback.
Dollars traded fell to $1.017 billion on Friday from $1.151 billion the previous day.
A trader in an email said the peso weakened as local participants remained cautious over increasing COVID-19 cases in the country.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort also said in a Viber message that the peso declined in response to the rapid increase in new COVID-19 cases, which prompted the government to announce stricter mobility restrictions.
“Peso (was) also weaker after local monetary authorities signaled smooth transition on unwinding extraordinary easy monetary measures,” he said in a Viber message.
The daily COVID-19 tally went up to 21,819 cases on Friday, data from the Health department showed, for bringing active infections to 77,369.
The government placed Metro Manila and nearby provinces under Alert Level 3, a stricter form of lockdown.
Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the date of its exit from easy policy is still uncertain, with BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno noting the transition will be done smoothly. — JPI
