MANILA, March 26 (PNA) — The Philippine peso strengthened to a dollar Wednesday and even closed to the 44-level on back of profit-taking and strong end-of-the-month dollar demand for corporates.
It ended the day at 44.96 from 45.06 a day ago , which a trader said was partly due to investors decision to stay at the sidelines ahead of Thursday’s policy meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’(BSP) Monetary Board (MB).
It opened the day at 45.05, sideways from the 45.02 a day ago.
It traded between 45.06 and 44.96 bringing the day’s average to 45.01.
Volume of trade reached US$ 757.9 million, up from the USD 528.1 million Tuesday.
For Thursday, the peso is expected to trade between 45.00 and 45.20 but the trader said this depends on several factors like the policy decision of the central bank.
Some analysts expect the Board to hold rates while some expect some policy tightening since BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. has earlier hinted on adjustment in policy stance given the developments particular on US economy.
To date, the central bank’s overnight borrowing or reverse repurchase (RRP) rate is at record-low of 3.5 percent and the overnight lending or repurchase (RP) rate is at 5.5 percent.
These were slashed by a total of 100 basis points in 2012 to boost domestic growth. (PNA)