The peso rebounded Friday after the government relaxed restrictions on international travel and expectations that quarantine rules will ease next month.

The peso closed at P51.23 against the dollar Friday, appreciating from its Thursday finish of P51.34, according to the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

The peso also strengthened from its P51.37 close on Jan. 21.

The peso opened Friday’s session at P51.34. The low was P51.35 and the high P51.21.

Dollar trading volume rose to $1.124 billion Friday from $886.8 million Thursday.

The peso was reacting to the government’s announcement that it will ease travel restrictions on arriving Filipinos and some foreigners, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said at a briefing Friday that fully-vaccinated international passengers will no longer need to go to a designated facility to quarantine upon arrival starting February. They will instead need to present a negative PCR test, taken within 48 hours before departure from the country of origin.

Arriving travelers are currently categorized under color-coded scheme depending on the perceived infection risk of their country of origin.

A trader said the market was hopeful that restriction measures will ease as infections are decreasing.

The Department of Health said active cases rose 18,191 to 226,521 on Friday.

Metro Manila and some provinces which saw a COVID-19 surge are under Alert Level 3 until the end of the month. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR