The peso weakened against the dollar after the government reported record levels of debt, and as a nuclear plant in Ukraine caught fire while under attack from Russian forces.   

The peso closed at P51.74 to the dollar Friday, against a P51.50 close Thursday, the Bankers Association of the Philippines said. 

It also retreated from its P51.34 close on Thursday last week. Financial markets were closed for a holiday on Friday, Feb. 25. 

The peso opened Friday at P51.65. The low was P51.75, while the high was P51.60. 

Dollar volume rose to $793.22 million Friday from $789.38 million the day before. 

Currency traders responded negatively to the fire in the Ukrainian power plant, which came under attack from Russian forces, a trader said in an email. 

The Zaporizhzhia power plant is Europe’s largest nuclear facility.  

Earlier in the invasion, Russia captured the site of the defunct Chernobyl power plant north of Kiev, which is currently an exclusion zone due to unsafe levels of radiation.  

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the market also absorbed news that the Philippines’ outstanding debt topped P12 trillion at the end of January. 

Preliminary data released by the Bureau of the Treasury indicated that outstanding debt hit P12.03 trillion, up 16.5% from a year earlier and up 2.6% month-on-month. 

The Treasury said the debt stock rose after another zero-interest loan from the central bank and an increase in borrowing from domestic creditors. 

As of end-2021, the debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio hit 60.5%, the highest since 2005. This also surpassed the 60% threshold considered as manageable by multilateral lenders for developing economies. – Luz Wendy T. Noble 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR