Peso falls on news of China’s trade deficit

MANILA, Philippines—The peso fell on the first trading day of the week as the latest report on China’s rising trade deficit dampened outlook on the export performance of the entire Asian region.

The local currency closed at 42.655 against the US dollar, down by 6.5 centavos from Friday’s finish of 42.59:$1.

Intraday high hit 42.62:$1, while intraday low settled at 42.76:$1. Volume of trade amounted to $810.1 million from $834.02 million previously.

China’s trade deficit hit the highest in 22 years as growth in exports was significantly outpaced by imports.

Traders said this led to speculations Asian economies, like the Philippines, would continue reeling from anemic exports this year.

The Philippine government, however, earlier expressed optimism that the trend of rising imports by China would give an opportunity for countries like the Philippines to sell more goods to Asia’s second-largest economy.

Potential rise in Philippine exports to China should help offset the adverse effect of anemic demand from eurozone economies, which continue to grapple with economic and debt problems.