The Philippine peso weakened further against the greenback on Monday, posting a fresh near 11-year low, with strong US jobs data and the drop in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ dollar reserves likely affecting investor sentiment. The local currency lost 11 centavos in Monday’s trade and closed at P50.69:$1, from P50.58:$1 on Friday. Data released by the central bank showed gross reserves in June declined 0.92 percent, or about $764 million, from $82.17 billion in May. The peso first touched the P50:$1 level on November 24 last year as bets on interest rate hikes in the US, which happened the following month, favored the dollar. The peso depreciated by 5.35 percent against the US dollar in 2016.

Source: Manila Times July 10, 2017 17:37 UTC