OFWs, BPO, exporters big winners in weak peso trend

ACT-OFW Party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III said in a statement that the recent decline of the peso to an 11-year low is favorable to OFWs, the business process outsourcing sector, and exporters. “The biggest winners of the sliding peso against the dollar are obviously the exporters and the overseas Filipinos,” he said. “Overseas Filipinos and their dependents here in the Philippines are very happy that they are getting more pesos for every dollar they earn and send back home. The exporters and business process outsourcing sectors are also very happy because they get more pesos for each dollar they earn,” Bertiz said. The lawmaker said that the big losers are the importers of goods and raw materials and the country’s gross international reserves. “The decline of peso forex in the last decade is a big concern to business and to our domestic economy. It has to be seen on a holistic view taking into consideration the effects to all stakeholders,” Bertiz said. However, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is in firm control of the exchange rate, according to BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. who also said the P51:$1 level allows the local currency “to gain some of the price competitiveness we have lost due to the strong peso of recent periods.”