President Aquino orders dollar watch

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered his economic managers to look into the effects on the economy of the strengthening of the peso against the US dollar.

Presidential Communications Development Secretary Ricky Carandang said Mr. Aquino expressed concern about the effects on the Philippine economy if the peso’s value rose too quickly against the US dollar. The United States has had problems with its debt ceiling, which was raised by its Congress in the nick of time yesterday.

“He wanted to know what the possible effects were of something like this. He expressed some concern about the rising peso and the impact it would have on exporters. He asked the economic team to take a look at all the possible effects of this,” Carandang said.