Looking at the stronger peso

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor ERIC T. LORETIZO Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

While officials are crowing about the growing strength of the peso against the once almighty U.S. dollar, others have expressed apprehensions over the effects of such rise on the common tao. Only the other day one of the country's technocrats was heard over TV expressing alarm over the development and pointed to a potential downside which, to the layman, is easier to understand than the exultations of some economists.

The technocrat was saying that a strong peso would impact on the country in a negative way. This was confirmed yesterday when the Director General of the National Economic Development Authority, no less, called on the government to do something to stop the peso from rising further as that would be disadvantageous not only for the export sector, but for the economy as a whole.

NEDA director general Romulo Neri has asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to intervene and probably take steps to address this. It was also pointed out that economists from the academe had earlier warned against this situation.

At the same time, there are also apprehensions from the side of those who depend on what is jocularly referred to as "foreign aid", meaning money from abroad supplied by family members working in foreign lands and earning dollars, of which part goes to the Philippines for their families. Their beneficiaries here are finding out that the value of the usual amount they receive regularly has, in effect, gone down, because, where they used to have an exchange value of P55 or more for every dollar they receive, now they would only get P51, and maybe less, if it is true that the exchange may even go down to P40.

Well, these are the downsides and the upsides, but, unfortunately, only economists, who see more in the figures than the ordinary fellow, can rejoice over such developments, while the rest wonder why they can't seem to win, no matter what happens.*