Peso drops over news of slim US growth

MANILA, Philippines—The peso fell by 22 centavos on Wednesday on expectations that exports would remain sluggish for a while given the still unfavorable growth of the United States, one of the biggest export markets.

The local currency closed at its intraday low of 43.46 against the US dollar versus the 43.24:$1 the previous day. Intraday high reached 43.22:$1, while volume of trade fell to $870.22 million from $1.122 billion the day before.

The decline of the peso, which mirrored the movement of other emerging market currencies in Asia, followed the announcement that the economy of the United States grew by a mere 2 percent in the second quarter, lower than most forecasts.

The growth rate elicited expectations that the Philippines and other emerging economies would continue to suffer from weak export earnings.

Data from the National Statistics Office showed that Philippine exports in September fell by 27 percent to $3.87 billion from a year ago. The drop was led by electronics, the country’s major export product, earnings from which dropped by nearly 48 percent.