Maybank’s Tanuwidjaja Says Slowdown May Push Peso to 44 Level
Enrico Tanuwidjaja, a senior currency analyst in Singapore at Malayan Banking Bhd., comments on the outlook for the Philippine economy and currency.
The peso gained 0.1 percent to 42.835 per dollar as of 9:25 a.m. in Manila. The Southeast Asian economy probably grew at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the final three months of 2011, versus 3.2 percent in the preceding quarter, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a government report due at 10 a.m. local time.
“The Philippine trade performance has shifted to the downside in the second half of last year and the central bank may have anticipated the weakness by cutting its benchmark interest rate earlier this month.
“The peso’s movement has been disparate with the developments in the domestic economy. We expect to see the peso in a 42.60 to 43.80 range today as sentiment looks like consolidating for now.
“The first quarter of 2012 is still filled with some uncertainty, especially on the Europe front. Should the GDP number differs significantly on the downside, it could drive dollar-peso toward 44.”
To contact the reporter on this story: David Yong in Singapore at dyong@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net
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