Philippine Peso Gains on Record Remittances

2026-02-18 05:44 By Jam Kaimo Samonte 1 min. read

The Philippine peso strengthened past 58 per dollar in mid-February, reaching its firmest level in over four months as the country recently reported record cash remittances for December and full-year 2025.

Remittances rose 4.2% YoY to an all-time high of $3.52 billion in December.

For 2025 as a whole, inflows increased 3.3% to a record $35.63 billion, equivalent to 7.3% of GDP and 6.4% of GNI, underscoring the sector’s structural importance to external accounts and domestic consumption.

The US remained the largest source of remittances, accounting for 39.7% of total flows, followed by Singapore (7.3%), Saudi Arabia (6.6%), and Japan (5%).

The peso also drew support from renewed foreign interest in domestic assets, with the benchmark PSEi up roughly 14% from its November low, when a major corruption scandal unsettled markets.

The rebound has helped restore investor confidence, enabling the government to return to large-sized bond issuance for the first time since April last year.



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