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MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is “in constant touch” with the economic team in monitoring the weakening value of the Philippine peso, Malacañang assured the public on Tuesday but didn’t say what else he plans to do to calm investors, market watchers, and consumers’ concerns.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said that while the topic was not discussed during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the President is still monitoring the situation.
“Not today, although the President is in constant touch with the economic team and they’re closely monitoring [the slide],” she said in a Palace briefing when asked if the sagging peso was discussed during the Cabinet meeting.
“As you know naman (As you know), the inflation rate is due to any local factors, it’s really about the exchange rate. But it is a matter for the President, which the President closely monitors on a regular basis and he’s in close contact with the economic managers on this matter,” Cruz-Angeles added.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that slow growth in the Philippine economy is expected in 2023.
The IMF predicts the Philippine economy to grow 6.5 percent in 2022. And for 2023, it said the Philippine economy might grow 5 percent.
READ: IMF says PH economy doing well, but cuts growth forecasts for 2022, 2023
But Cruz-Angeles asserted that “our economic managers forecast a higher growth.”
“Our fundamentals are strong, the economy is in good resurgence and we are expecting a good rate of growth right now. We will have to see in the end whether that forecast is going to be more accurate than the local forecast,” she noted.
As of September 27, the value of the Philippine peso dropped further to 58.99 against one US dollar.
Meanwhile, the country’s inflation rate for the month of August was at 6.3 percent.
Based on a report from First Metro Investment Corp. and the University of Asia and the Pacific, the 6.3 percent inflation rate is seen to increase to 6.7 percent by September or October. — Christian Paul Dela Cruz, trainee
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