Philippine central bank says ready to manage market disruption as peso slumps

MANILA – The Philippine central bank said on Tuesday it was taking steps to manage any disruption in the financial market, and urged participants not to take advantage of a peso currency hovering at record lows against the dollar.

The peso closed at a record 59 to the greenback on Monday, taking its year-to-date decline to 13 percent, the most in Southeast Asia.

Policymakers have attributed the decline mainly to the dollar’s strength.

“We ask those who have the means not to take undue advantage of changing market conditions,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement.

“This does not help the Philippine peso; it does not help the Philippines. What we can do is to bring all transactions into an organized and accessible formal market that offers consumer protection.”