The peso's strength against the dollar during the pandemic has exceeded even the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' projections and could further strengthen on the back of remittances from abroad.
The strength of the local currency is tied to the inflow of dollars from overseas Filipinos. The more dollars in the circulation, the more the peso strengthens against the greenback. This is especially true during high-volume remittance seasons such as Christmas and school resumption.
Diokno said he has given forecasts of P48.60 to P48.70 to the dollar from the current P48.50.
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"We expect the peso to remain resilient," Diokno told ANC's Market Edge. "This are really turning rosy," he said, citing the possibility of hitting $100 billion in reserves.
Year-to-date, remittances have shrunk by 2.4 percent, less than half of the 5 percent forecast. Overseas Filipino workers are still sending money home, some of them, in larger amounts. Monthly remittances also recently snapped three straight months of decline, he said.
"Filipinos are truly altruistic. They send money when their relatives are facing crisis at home," he said.
