The Philippine peso may continue depreciating over the next 12 months to break through the 56:$1 level. This as the US dollar is seen maintaining its strength against other currencies as authorities jack up interest rates further to bring down inflation in the United States.HSBC forecasts that the peso will average at 55.50:$1 in the third quarter of 2022 and 56:$1 in the fourth quarter.
From there, HSBC expects the local currency to continue to weaken to average at 56.20:$1 in the first quarter of 2023 and 56.50:$1 in the second quarter.
Janet Henry, HSBC’s chief global economist, said central banks around the world have “a serious inflation fight on their hands and they are unlikely to let up.”
ING Bank, meanwhile, said the drivers of a US dollar uptrend seen in the first semester of 2022 were expected to prevail over the rest of this year. INQ