Peso retreats as dollar gets boost from US Treasury nominee

The Philippine peso depreciated against the US dollar on Friday as the greenback got a boost from US Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen’s statement that the Biden Administration will not seek to weaken its currency.

The local currency shed 3.1 centavos to close at P48.085:$1 from Thursday’s finish at 48.054.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort noted that there was a slight upward correction in the US dollar against major global currencies after “Yellen signaled recently that the US will not weaken the US currency to gain competitive advantage especially for US exports.”

A report by the Wall Street Journal said that Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair, is expected to affirm the US’ commitment to market-determined exchange rates.

For the week, the peso is weaker by 0.02 or 0.04%.

Since the start of 2021, the local unit has weakened by P0.062 or 0.1%.

“For the coming week, the markets will anticipate the latest trade deficit/imports/exports data on January 27 and the latest GDP/national accounts data on January 28,” Ricafort said.

“On external factors, the markets will anticipate the latest Federal Reserve monetary policy-setting meeting on January 27, 2021 as a source of new leads,” he added. — DVM, GMA News