Philippine central bank says peso weakness does not reflect fundamentals

[MANILA] The Philippine peso's current weakness does not reflect the country's fundamentals, with inflows of remittances and outsourcing receipts helping the economy and the currency through a period of market turbulence, a senior central bank official said on Wednesday.

The peso has lost more than 4 per cent this year despite the economic growth acceclerating to 5.6 per cent in the second quarter from 5 per cent in the first quarter, making the Philippines the only one of Southeast Asia's five biggest economies to post faster growth.

"Being a small economy we are prone to this volatility, " Diwa Guinigundo, a central bank deputy governor, told reporters. Guinigundo said the currency's movement "does not reflect the fundamentals of the economy."

REUTERS