THE peso yesterday plunged to a seven-month low, closing at P43.925 per dollar after oil prices advanced to $130.21 per barrel in the world market, prompting investors to buy more dollars in anticipation of demand from oil companies, currency traders said.

The peso opened at P43.75. It reached a high of P43.75 before closing at the intra day low. The volume was $617 million, compared with $700.5 million Wednesday.

“High commodity cost is weighing down the peso. Remittances increased this year, but…not enough to offset the cost of oil importation,” said a treasurer from a universal bank.

A trader from a commercial bank said the positive US durable-goods data, released last Wednesday, gave the dollar an edge against regional currencies. The positive development in the US economy put pressure on the peso-dollar exchange rate as investors bought more dollars.

The trader said the peso would have slipped lower had not the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) intervened, selling dollars at P43.85.

The BSP was there, “trying to temper the peso depreciation by selling dollars at P43.85. Of course, they don’t want the peso to depreciate quickly,” the trader said.                    

“The market was trying to break into P44; we are [now] looking into that level,” the trader added.

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.

THE peso yesterday plunged to a seven-month low, closing at P43.925 per dollar after oil prices advanced to $130.21 per barrel in the world market, prompting investors to buy more dollars in anticipation of demand from oil companies, currency traders said.

THE Philippine government will likely push its revenue and customs agencies to exceed collection targets to meet the budget deficit programmed for the year.

HONG KONG AND MANILA—The Philippines, burdened with rising interest payments and higher subsidies, will double the cash it plans to raise from asset sales this year to fund spending on rice and fuel, Finance Secretary Gary Teves said.

THE United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) has posted a 54-percent increase in consumer-loan bookings, boosted by a 15-percent, or P4.3 billion, growth in current and savings accounts, or Casa, for the first quarter of the year.