Philippine PesoQuote - Chart - Historical Data - News

The Philippine peso weakened past 61.8 per dollar, hitting a new all-time low as rising oil prices put renewed pressure on the currency. The peso surpassed the previous record low of 61.850 set in July, as Brent crude jumped more than 5% over the past four days amid renewed Middle East tensions and concerns over energy supplies. The Philippines is particularly vulnerable to higher oil prices as it imports almost all of its oil requirements, raising the risk of stronger inflationary pressures. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has already raised its policy rate to 4.75% and intervened in the foreign-exchange market, but continued oil gains and elevated global bond yields could keep pressure on the currency. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also indicated that they will not use all of the country’s reserves to defend the peso. The currency has now lost more than 5% this year, ranking among Asia’s weakest performers, while foreign-exchange reserves have fallen nearly 7% to $103 billion.

The Philippine peso weakened back toward the 61-per-dollar mark in early August after briefly touching a six-week high earlier this week, as markets reassessed the country’s economic outlook amid slowing growth and persistent inflation pressures. Philippine GDP expanded 2.3% year-on-year in Q2, the slowest pace since Q4 2009 excluding the COVID-19 period, as the economy faced an energy shock stemming from the Iran war and the fallout from a major corruption scandal. The weaker-than-expected growth came after the government’s DBCC revised down its 2026 growth target in June. Meanwhile, inflation remained elevated at 6.2% in July despite easing for a third consecutive month, staying above the BSP’s 3% target and keeping expectations for further tightening intact. The BSP has raised rates by 50 bps since April, with analysts expecting another 50 bps of hikes this year via two 25 bps increases at the August and October meetings.

The Philippine peso traded around 61.7 per US dollar in late July, hovering near its record low as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas maintained limited intervention in the foreign exchange market while indicating only a small chance of further monetary tightening this year. The central bank intervened modestly last week to maintain orderly market conditions, with Governor Eli Remolona stressing that aggressively defending the peso against a strong US dollar would only deplete the country's foreign exchange reserves. While authorities remain concerned that the peso's weakness could fuel imported inflation, Remolona said the likelihood of aggressive rate hikes to bring inflation back to target remains small. Broad US dollar strength and elevated crude oil prices, which have weighed on Asia's oil-importing economies, have kept the peso under pressure, leaving the currency down more than 7% against the greenback so far this year.