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Peso plunges to historic ₱59.22 against US dollar

Business | Banking & Finance

Peso plunges to historic ₱59.22 against US dollar

By Derco Rosal

At A Glance

Heightened expectations of another Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) easing have pushed the Philippine peso to a fresh weakest-ever level at ₱59.22 against the United States (US) dollar.

Heightened expectations of another Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) easing have pushed the Philippine peso to a fresh weakest-ever level of ₱59.22 against the United States (US) dollar on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

The local currency’s new historic low was also its intraday low when trading resumed on Tuesday after a long weekend. It recently fluctuated between the ₱58 and ₱59 levels before hitting a new rock bottom.

Dropping by 28.5 centavos from the previous finish of ₱58.935:$1, the latest level surpassed the prior all-time low of ₱59.17:$1 in November, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) showed.

The peso reached an intraday high of ₱59.07 after opening at ₱59.08. Total trading volume fell to $1.097 billion from $1.423 billion last Friday, Dec. 5, when the currency was still at the ₱58:$1 level.

Financial markets were closed on Monday, Dec. 8, due to the special non-working holiday commemorating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

“We expect the Philippine peso to recover modestly to the ₱58 levels in the first half of 2026 as government spending improves and capital inflows pick up on the back of a recovery in growth and FDI [foreign direct investment] inflows,” MUFG Global Markets Research said in a Dec. 8 report.

According to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort and a trader, the peso’s latest plunge reflects the market’s stronger expectations of another 25-basis-point (bp) interest rate cut.

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