THE PESO strengthened against the greenback on Friday on the back of the government’s cash aid for low income households and as investors unloaded their dollar positions ahead of the upcoming holidays.

The local unit ended trading at P50.72 per dollar, rising 13 centavos from its P50.85 per dollar close on Thursday, according to data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

Week-on-week, the currency also strengthened by 28 centavos versus its P51-per-dollar finish last March 27.

The peso opened the session at P50.78 against the greenback. Its weakest showing was at P50.808, while its intraday best was at P50.715 per dollar.

Dollars traded sank to $270.5 million from the $424.9 million logged on Thursday.

A trader said the peso strengthened as some investors unloaded their dollar positions given the upcoming holidays.

“The peso strengthened today as some participants opted to unload dollar positions ahead of the shortened trading next week due to the Holy Week holidays,” a trader said in an email on Friday.

Meanwhile, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort attributed the peso’s strength to positive sentiment amid the government’s aid for low income Filipinos.

“Peso was stronger after the P100 billion funding out of the P200 billion already available for the government’s COVID-19 programs especially for financial assistance to 18 million households,” Mr. Ricafort said.

The Departments of Social Welfare and Development and Finance are in charge of making a database of low income households that will receive aid from the Emergency Subsidy Program as part of the government’s response to the pandemic.

Under the scheme, low income households are expected to receive between P5,000 to P8,000 in cash assistance monthly for two months, depending on the region. — L.W.T. Noble

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