MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is closely monitoring with his economic managers the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar, Malacañang said Tuesday.

The peso closed at P58.50 against the US dollar on Friday, which was a record-low for the currency. On Tuesday, it weakened to as low as P58.995 in intraday trading.

• Philippine peso weakens to new all-time low of P58.50 vs US dollar

"As you know naman the inflation rate isn't due to any local factors, it's really the exchange rate," Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles told Palace reporters.

"It is a matter for the President... the President closely monitors on a regular basis and in close contact with the economic managers on this matter," she added.

Asked to comment on the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) growth outlook in the Philippines which is expected to slow down to 5 percent in 2023 from 6.3 percent this year, Cruz-Angeles said, "we will have to see about that."

Economic managers are targeting growth of between 6.5 to 7.5 percent this year.

Angeles said the country's economic fundamentals "are strong."

"The economic managers forecast a higher growth so they are in a much better position in that forecast... The economy is in good resurgence and we are experiencing a good rate of growth right now," she said.

"We will have to see in the end whether that forecast is going to be more accurate than the local forecast."

IMF Mission Head Cheng Hoon Lim said he expects the Philippine peso to continue to depreciate, alongside other currencies, as the US continues to fight inflation with monetary policy tightening of its own.

Several analysts have said the peso sinking to P60 to a dollar is possible.

The dollar is widely expected to continue overperforming after the US Fed signaled that it would implement more rate hikes in the near term and that rates would be kept elevated up to 2024.

- With reports from Jess Fenol and Warren De Guzman, ABS-CBN News

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