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PUERTO
PRINCESA—Philippine exporters would like to see the
exchange rate hover at the P43.50 level for “quite a
while” as it reflects the real value of the peso against
the US dollar.
This
rate of exchange could make exporters more competitive,
said Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Philippine
Exporters Confederation, or Philexport.
Should
the peso-dollar exchange rate stay at this level until
the end of the year, exporters would regain their
confidence, he added.
“We need
the exchange rate to steady around that [level]. The
worst thing that could happen to us is to see it drop
sharply again,” Ortiz-Luis said Thursday at the
sidelines of the South Luzon Area Business Conference at
the Legend Palawan Hotel here.
The peso
fell anew versus the dollar to the P43.925 level
yesterday.
Ortiz-Luis said the customers abroad will be buying at
this rate.
Should
the peso appreciate due to government intervention or
speculative trading, then the exporters will be on the
losing end.
At this
point, though, exporters have not yet regained their
confidence to accept orders from clients abroad. They
remain wary that the exchange rate would drop sharply
once again if the government should overreact to protect
the local currency.
Ortiz-Luis said the exporters hope that the government
will not reverse its policy of borrowing from local
sources by going to foreign creditors in the face of a
weaker peso.
“We hope
that the government will not meddle too much and… let
market [forces] dictate [the exchange rate],” Ortiz-Luis
said.
The
exchange rate is now in a phase of correction, a trend
that proves what speculators have been saying all along
that the peso would not continue to appreciate
indefinitely.
Ortiz-Luis said it was the view of exporters that the
“trending” by the so-called market analysts contributed
much to the sharp increase of the value of the peso.
“And the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas keeps on falling for their
trap by agreeing to what they are saying,” he added. |
