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THE peso
Tuesday held at close to a seven-and-a-half-year high
against the dollar on speculation money sent home by
Filipinos working abroad will increase as the Christmas
season approaches.
“Remittances will pour in in the next few weeks, and
that is helping the peso’s strength,’’ said Fitz Aclan,
who helps manage the equivalent of $5.9 billion at BDO
Unibank.
Money
sent from abroad accounts for about a tenth of the
$117-billion Southeast Asian economy and has helped the
peso gain more than 16 percent against the dollar this
year.
The
currency rose 0.4 percent to P42.12 per dollar as of
3:59 p.m., according to Tullett Prebon Plc., the world’s
second-largest interdealer broker. That is the highest
since May 22, 2000.
The peso
may strengthen further as a failed coup attempt to oust
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last week allows
traders to focus on the nation’s economic growth,
JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Tuesday. The bank forecast the
currency to appreciate to P40 per dollar by the end of
December next year. (Bloomberg) |
