Peso continues retreat

MANILA, Philippines - The peso weakened for the second straight day yesterday, hitting a near eight-year low anew despite the announcement of a strong third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth under the Duterte administration.

The local currency shed 21 centavos to 49.56 from Wednesday’s 49.35 to $1. This was the weakest level in almost eight years after closing at 49.83 to $1 on Nov. 24, 2016

The peso opened weaker at 49.36 and hit an intra-day high of 49.22. Volume increased 23.2 percent to $821.5 million from $666.5 million last Wednesday.

The country’s domestic output as measured by the GDP grew faster at 7.1 percent in the third quarter from seven percent in the second quarter in the back of growing investments and a strong rebound in agriculture.

The agriculture sector grew 2.9 percent in the third quarter breaking five consecutive quarters of contraction.

This is under the first three months of President Duterte who assumed office last June 30.

The GDP growth of the Philippines was also faster than China’s 6.7 percent, Vietnam’s 6.4 percent, Indonesia’s five percent, and Malaysia’s 4.3 percent.

Economic managers penned a six to seven percent GDP growth target for this year. The GDP growth eased to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent in 2014 due to weak global demand and lack of government spending.