Remolona shrugs off peso slide

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January 9, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is not inclined to mount a forceful defense of the peso despite renewed market pressure and talk of the exchange rate testing the 60-to-the-dollar level, according to BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr.

On the sidelines of an event hosted by the Rotary Club, Remolona  said that while there is strong market pressure to prop up the local currency, the central bank has chosen not to yield to it.

“There is tremendous pressure to defend the peso and we’ve resisted that pressure,” he told reporters. When asked what that means for the BSP, he was blunt: “We ignore that (pressure).”

On Wednesday, the peso slumped by 14.5 centavos to a record low of 59.355 against the dollar. This is weaker than the close recorded on Dec. 9, when the peso reached a previous record low of 59.22 versus the greenback.

Remolona acknowledged that the central bank continues to participate in the market, but only in limited amounts.

“We always intervene in small amounts,” he said.

Pressed on whether the BSP intervened specifically the previous day, he replied, “I don’t know. I don’t track it day by day. But the policy is not to allow sharp movements,” indicating that the objective is to prevent excessive volatility rather than defend a specific level.

Asked what the BSP would do if the peso were to reach 60 or even 61 to $1, Remolona said, “It’s just a number.”

Remolona said the BSP’s position is based on economic fundamentals rather than on defending any specific exchange rate level.

He explained that in the past, when manufacturing and merchandise exports played a much bigger role in the Philippine economy, a weaker peso could even be beneficial because it made locally made goods more competitive abroad.

Many export-oriented economies, Remolona noted, deliberately allow their currencies to weaken for this reason.

However, he said the country’s economic structure has since changed, with services now accounting for a much larger share of growth. As a result, peso movements today neither provide a significant boost nor pose a serious threat to the economy.

Given this, he said there is no strong economic justification for aggressively defending the currency and the central bank’s focus remains on preventing excessive volatility rather than protecting any particular level.

Ultimately, the BSP governor said the central bank could afford to look past the noise because the depreciation does not justify a defensive posture.

“The economics doesn’t warrant defending the peso,” he said, reiterating that intervention will remain measured and aimed at smoothing sharp movements rather than drawing a line in the sand for the currency.