Peso rises over Moody’s credit rating upgrade for Philippines

AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The peso inched up on Tuesday following the move of Moody’s Investors Service to upgrade the credit rating of the Philippines to just one notch below investment grade.

The local currency closed at its intraday high of 41.20 against the US dollar, up by 7.5 centavos from the previous day’s finish of 41.275.

Intraday low settled at 41.31:$1. Volume of trade amounted to $702.3 million from $595.1 million previously.

The appreciation of the peso on Tuesday came after Moody’s announced Monday afternoon that it raised the country’s credit rating from Ba2 to Ba1, or from two notches to just one notch below investment grade.

The raising of the credit rating was attributed to favorable developments in the economic front, such as healthy pace of growth, stable banking sector, improving fiscal condition of the government, and the country’s rising foreign exchange reserves.

The higher credit rating for the Philippines comes even as the global economy is confronted with challenges, led by a crisis in the eurozone.

Traders said the improved credit rating helped further improve sentiment of investors on the Philippines and thus increased their appetite for peso-denominated securities.

The appreciation of the peso came with the rise of the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) on Tuesday by 29.25 points to 5,426.67.