The Philippine peso weakened to 60.4 per USD, nearing a record low, as risk sentiment deteriorated following the collapse of US–Iran peace talks and Washington’s announcement of plans to blockade Iranian port traffic. US forces said they would begin blocking access to all Iranian ports at 1400 GMT on Monday, while still permitting vessels not bound for Iran to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict, which began in late February, has since widened into a broader regional confrontation, unsettling global markets and driving oil prices higher.
At an unscheduled meeting last month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas left its policy rate unchanged at 4.25%, choosing not to tighten despite mounting inflationary pressures linked to the war, in an effort to support the economy’s fragile recovery from a recent graft scandal. Meanwhile, the latest data showed inflation quickening to a 20‑month high of 4.1% in March, breaching the BSP’s 2–4% target band and heightening expectations of a rate hike in the coming months.
