Philippines will defend peso ‘as hard as we possibly can’: President

[MANILA] Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Wednesday (Oct 28) that the authorities would do all they can to ensure that the Philippine peso does not keep falling against the US dollar.

He told reporters: “People can take solace in the fact that our policy towards the peso is to continue to defend the peso as hard as we possibly can.”

Marcos said that the government has “all the means to defend” the currency, which hit a record low of 64.17 to the US dollar on Tuesday.

“There was no reason to panic over its weakness,” he added. “Our foreign exchange reserves are healthy. And that’s what we draw on to defend the peso.”

Philippine foreign reserves fell to US$99.5 billion in September, the lowest level since September 2023.

The peso has lost more than 8 per cent against the US dollar in the year to date.

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The governor of the central bank last week said it intervened in the foreign exchange market to smooth out sharp fluctuations.

The central bank raised its key policy rate by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points last week to combat inflation, which it said could be fuelled by a weaker peso through higher imports.

Marcos, who met central bank officials on Tuesday, said that monetary measures could only do so much to control inflation, and added that “we have to do others”. REUTERS