Peso strengthens on S&P outlook upgrade

The Philippine peso opened the week on a firm note against the US dollar, driven by an upgrade on the Philippines’ credit rating outlook.

The local currency gained 22.5 centavos to close Monday at P51.74:$1 from P51.965 on Friday.

“Basically, the peso greatly strengthened today as news that S&P Global released their economic outlook on the Philippines last week from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’,” Guian Angelo Dumalagan, market economist at Land Bank of the Philippines, said.

S&P Global Ratings upgraded its Philippine outlook to “positive” from “stable,” citing improvements in fiscal policies which could spur growth.

S&P hinted at the possibility of a credit rating upgrade from the current “BBB” which is a notch above the minimum investment grade. —VDS, GMA News