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THE PESO
Thursday climbed to the highest since April 2000 on
speculation foreign-exchange inflows will rise after the
government Wednesday moved closer to selling the
operating rights to its power grid.
The
currency gained for a 10th day after a group led by
China’s State Grid Corp. Wednesday offered $3.95 billion
for a 25-year contract to run and expand the
power-transmission network. The peso has gained almost
20 percent this year, the best performer of the 10
most-active currencies in Asia outside Japan, helped by
inflows of remittances from Filipinos overseas.
“The
successful transmission-grid bidding signals sustained
inflows over a longer period and also signals improving
government finances,” said Ricky Cebrero, a treasurer at
East West Banking Corp. “All these are happening on the
back of a fundamentally strong inflow of remittances.”
The
currency rose 0.2 percent to P41.225 to a dollar 4:18
pm, according to Tullett Prebon Plc., the world’s
second-largest interdealer broker. The peso has gained
9.4 percent this quarter, set for its best three-month
advance in nine years. It closed at 41.24. (Bloomberg) |
