MANILA, Sept. 13 (PNA) -- Rejecting calls to intervene and prop up the value of the peso, Malacañang said Saturday it will leave the currency to “seek its own level” saying the weakened peso is favorable to exporters and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

"Our policy is for the value of the peso to seek its own level. We don't want to interfere with it," Presidential Management Staff Director-General Secretary Cerge Remonde said in an interview this morning over government-run Radyo ng Bayan.

Since the start of this year, the peso has depreciated by about 11.9 percent against the US dollar.

However, on Friday, the peso climbed back to P46.86 after breaching P47 against the greenback on Thursday.

Remonde stressed that the value of the peso went down because the dollar is strengthening and not because Philippine economic fundamentals are wavering.

”The currencies of other countries are also being affected by the dollar's strengthening,” he said.

Foreign exchange markets across Asia remained cautious but the peso rebounded on profit-taking against the greenback, closing near the day's high of P46.84 after hitting as low as P47.08 to the US dollar.

The local currency gained P0.235 from the previous day's closing of P47.095 against the greenback.

Trading across Asia was mixed, with the Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the Chinese yuan taking cue from the euro's rebound against the greenback.

However, the Korean won, Indian rupee and the Indonesian rupiah continued to falter. (PNA)
LGI/OPS/rsm