THE peso yesterday fell 23.5 centavos from the previous day’s trade as the market braces for the release of May inflation figures by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and a decision by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on interest rates. 

The local currency opened at P43.60 per dollar. It traded as high as P43.60 and as low as P43.60 before closing at P43.75 from P43.515 Monday. Total trade volume reached $667.00 million from $480.70 million Monday.

“The general trend is for a weakening peso because of the higher cost of importing commodities like oil,” said Antonio Espedido, a treasurer at Chinabank.

“We are also trying to be cautious on upcoming inflation. We don’t want to load up [on the peso] while there are uncertainties on inflation and interest rates,” he added.

The NSO is expected to release the May inflation data on Thursday. Inflation for April soared to 8.3 percent and economists believe it will continue to surge.

THE Bureau of Treasury (BTr)  yesterday awarded in full the re-issued five-year treasury bond worth P7 billion at an average rate of 8.495 percent as demand for longer-term securities picked up.

MANILA’S problems with rice may spill over from the realm of consumer price concerns and into the political arena, which could prove more difficult to contain.

SLASHING tariff on feeds and other agricultural products will impact tremendously on the Bureau of Customs collections since most of these are already exempted from paying the value-added tax (VAT), Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said Tuesday.

THE peso yesterday fell 23.5 centavos from the previous day’s trade as the market braces for the release of May inflation figures by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and a decision by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on interest rates. 

SINGAPORE—Philip Wee, a senior currency economist for DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore, comments on the Philippine peso and the Indonesian rupiah.