THE peso rallied against the dollar on Friday, gaining 14 centavos from Thursday’s close of P44.49.

The local currency closed at P44.35 on total volume of $531.5 million.

A currency trader from a commercial bank said the market took profits after pump prices in the world market dropped by almost $5 dollars overnight from $131.93 per barrel on Thursday.

“Banks took to profit-taking after oil prices eased overnight. Since the trade was already favorable to the peso, there was no sign of central bank in the market,” the trader said.

Another trader said the market is also keeping an eye on Saudi Arabia, which promises to increase oil production by July. 

“This development can be peso-positive because it may lead to lower oil prices in the market, thus lowering oil-importation cost,” the trader said.

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has scaled back the country’s growth potential this year from the original forecast of 5.8 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) to 5.2 percent.

BSP finds guidelines on bank safety poor

EXISTING guidelines ensuring the safety of bank premises for both employees and the banking public have been declared inadequate by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

LandBank branches take role as pay centers

THE Land Bank of the Philippines is making available 32 of its branches in Regions 3 and 4 as payout centers for the P500 electric subsidy to lifeline electric consumers, the bank said in a statement.

THE peso rallied against the dollar on Friday, gaining 14 centavos from Thursday’s close of P44.49.

The local currency closed at P44.35 on total volume of $531.5 million.

A prosecution panel of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended the filing of criminal charges against officers and brokers of the Performance Investment Products Corp. (PIPC) for violation of several provisions of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) in connection with its sale of unregistered securities.