Peso touches 51-$1 as Q4 GDP disappoints

The Philippine peso depreciated in early trading Tuesday, touching the P51-$1 level on the back of a fourth quarter economic growth that fell below expectations.

As of 10:50 a.m., the local currency hit an intra-day low of P51.050:$1 after opening at 50.82. On Monday, the peso traded at 50.835:$1.

“Basically, the markets are expecting a quite stronger GDP (gross domestic product) given the upward revision of third quarter GDP to 7.0 percent. With the rather weaker fourth quarter GDP at 6.6 percent, the markets reacted negatively,” a foreign exchange trader at a local bank told GMA News Online.

The Philippine economy grew by 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter, bringing the full-year economic growth to 6.7 percent.

This compares with the upwardly revised 7.0 percent GDP growth in the third quarter of 2017 and 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The fourth quarter GDP results fall within the 6.7- to 6.9-percent forecast of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia for the full-year 2017. —Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News