Philippines not going to fight peso's rise-official

Philippines not going to fight peso's rise-official - Yahoo! Philippines News:

MANILA, Nov 3 -- The Philippines will not block the peso's strength even on concerns its surge to 2-� year highs against the dollar may undermine export competitiveness and remittances from Filipinos abroad, a government official said on Wednesday.

'The BSP is not going to fight the market,' Ricky Carandang, one of President Benigno Aquino's spokesmen, told reporters.

"We know that the exporters are worried that it may have an impact. We know that overseas Filipinos are worried about that and we're starting to think of what can be done about it."

Last week, the central bank approved measures to encourage capital outflows and help temper peso's gains of more than 8 percent this year.

For a list of the changes in the foreign exchange rules approved on Thursday, click on [ID:nSGE69R0I4]

The central bank has said it was not considering capital controls, and said while the inflows could complicate policy settings it did not want to discourage investors as the country needs funds to upgrade infrastructure. [ID:nSGE69I0E6] There have been concerns the inflows, part of a global shift to emerging markets by investors, pose a risk by strengthening currencies and undermining export competitiveness and remittance inflows, a key driver of domestic consumption.

"The best that monetary officials can do is really to make sure that the fluctuations are not so violent or not so volatile," Carandang said.

"You cannot force your currency to where you want it to go. It's a function of market forces that are in many cases beyond our control. So maybe more coordination, more talks between central banks in the region and governments in the region."