by FFE PH News staff

Despite the uncertainty following the government shutdown of the US, the peso closed with a strong 43.325:$1 on Tuesday, P0.215 up from Monday. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index meanwhile rose by 0.1%.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said that it will continue to smoothen out fluctuations in the peso’s value, preventing the volatile foreign markets from affecting consumer prices.

He said “The domestic economy has sources of resilience owing to the buffers we have built. We will continue to watch how the developments in the US will pan out.”

The US government was forced to shut down on Tuesday after its congress failed to pass their new budget bill. Tetangco said that global and domestic markets will be unstable as investors move away from risky assets – a situation that will last until the US congress resolves the issue.

However, he clarified that the steady flow of remittances and the booming business process outsourcing sector is protecting the economy from the negative effects of the shutdown.