Peso bounces back to 57 to $1 level

MANILA, Philippines — The peso bounced back to the 57 to $1 level as the dollar continues to slide on concerns over the world’s largest economy as well as the active participation in the foreign exchange market by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to smoothen volatility.

The local currency gained 25 centavos to close at 57.97 to $1 from Thursday’s 58.22 to $1 ahead of the long weekend after Malacañang declared Oct. 31 as a holiday to give families more time to celebrate All Saints’ Day.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said this was the strongest level for the peso in more than a month or since Sept. 20 when it closed at 57.48 to $1.

He said the stronger peso exchange rate recently has been largely brought about by the expected seasonal increase in remittances from overseas Filipino workers, and conversion to pesos that are needed to finance travel and other holiday-related spending ahead and during the long holiday weekend as more Filipinos travel to their respective provinces.

He said there is pent up demand after travel restrictions have been finally eased after more than two years of restrictions since the pandemic started in early 2020.