Sen. Joel Villanueva Speaks on Weaker Peso vs. US Dollar
JOEL VILLANUEVA – The Senator expressed his hope that the Philippine Peso will recover and show resilience.
The ongoing war in the Middle East is not only felt by the countries involved in the exchange of missiles but as well as by the nations that are currently experience the soaring prices of oil — including the Philippines. in PH, the pump prices have already gone up twice since the war started.
The Middle East war is now entering its third week since the United States and Israel launched joint airstrikes against Iran that killed its leader, SupreAmme Minister Ayatollah Khamenei, and several officials of the Iranian government. However, a lot of civilians died from the airstrike as well and the government vowed of avenging its people.
Iran even warmed the world to prepare for oil to reach $200 a barrel. The remarks of an Iranian official came after U.S. Pres. Donald Trump warned the Iran of a much harder hit if they block the global oil supply.
Currently, Iran remains to keep the strait of Hormuz close for the vessels of Israel and the United States. Aside from a series of bigtime oil price hikes, the ongoing Middle East war also led to the record-setting weakening of Peso against the U.S. Dollar.
The Philippine Peso had a historic drop of as low as P60.01 = 1 USD amid the ongoing Middle East war. While the weaker Peso will be of advantage on Filipino families who have an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who earn U.S. Dollars, it does not depict a good standing of the Philippine economy.
A weaker Peso shows the vulnerability of the economy and may be felt through high costs of food products and fuel supply. Reportedly, a lot of investors have pulled back and rested their investments in America amid the war.
Amid the deep plunge of the Philippine Peso, Sen. Joel Villanueva expressed his hope that the Philippine Peso will recover. According to News5, he stressed his hope that the weaker Peso will show resiliemce.
“We hope that despite the impact of ongoing tensions in the Middle East on the peso-dollar exchange rate, the Philippine Peso will demonstrate resilience and recover,” Villanueva said.
Based on the post, Sen. Joel Villanueva recognized that a weaker Peso may benefit the OFWs but stressed that it is also a negative indication. According to the Senator, he is hoping for the appropriate and the timely actions of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP to keep the stability of the exchange rate.
“While a weaker peso may provide some benefit to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families, it also raises concerns regarding the increased cost of servicing dollar-denominated debt,” the Senator expressed.
Amid the weaker Peso in the Philippines, Pres. Bongbong Marcos assured the Filipinos that there is no problem in the food and oil supply in the country.