The Rising of the Philippine Peso: Did it change the way you live?

[baron]

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^ Indeed, it is for the better. After all, we will be at a very much sordid state if the peso is depreciating, especially with all those political bickering and instability that these political camps are instigating.

Anyway, the government is also putting up remedies for those who are negatively affected. I guess we just have to sustain the continuous strength of the peso. In the end, it will always be good for us.

[Godfather]

i have read everybody's opinion on this matter BUT here is the bottomline, if a country's currency becomes stronger it is ALWAYS good for the country, PERIOD.

now for the incidental consequences, another solution should be done about that. why should we make the exporters and OFW remittances the majority of the citizenry's problem? they should evolve and find other alternatives or shift to another business, we did.

I agree with you, LytSlpr. If we subscribe to the idea that exports will suffer due to the peso's getting stronger thus dmage our economy, wouldn't the reverse also have been true when the peso dropped from 25 to the dollar and then to 40 and 55? How come our economy didn't improve much despite the more than doubling of the dollar rate?

On OFW remittances, it is true that recipients would be losing a bit. I suggest that it is time for recipients to manage those remittances better and effectively. Studies have shown that OFW families spend what is sent to them for basic necessities and for pleasure. It is time for these recipients to have an attitude change and stop being too dependent on those remittances by saving or by investing in small scale businesses to help the OFW out and to hasten his/her return to the country.

[omad]

here's one way of helping exporters survive these times:
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Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Exporters seek fast actions
By Malou M. Mozo
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

WHILE it lauded the Philippine government’s plan to establish a $1-billion hedging facility to protect exporters against the adverse effects of the strengthening of the peso against the dollar, Cebu exporters are calling for a faster materialization of the proposal.

“It’s good news but they have to (do) it fast because our industry is continuously bleeding. Day to day gud ang among business,” Michael Basubas, Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation president, said.

Explain

Basubas said hedging mechanisms need to be clarified to exporters as “not many have truly understood what it means.”

“They need to explain it to us in layman’s term. And we need to further study these options,” he said.

Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) Cebu executive officer Fred Escalona said hedging is a means to protect or defend against fluctuations in prices of commodities and exchange rate.

“Before, exporters did not see hedging as an option because the market was always going north but now the peso is trending southward so karon pa nila nakit-an,” he said. (They see it only now.)

Hedging has many mechanisms and one is through “forwards,” said Escalona.

“Supposing there’s a deal at P46.50 (to a dollar), so I tell my bank that I already paid, say 20 percent cash payment but my delivery arrives in the next three months. By dealing with the bank, I can lock in my future income at P46.50. When I have shipped and proved that I can pay through a letter credit, I can negotiate payments with the bank,” Escalona told Sun.Star Cebu through a phone interview.

But he said exporters need to maintain a good credit line with their respective banks to be able to take advantage of the mechanism.

full story
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[omad]

with regards to the topic, there'd be no tangible example that it has changed the way we lived just yet. change would only be noticeable in a prolonged and sustained surge of the peso. for example, if the peso gets to the P30 a dollar rate and settles there for a year or so, then maybe we would feel the effect of it in our daily lives by then.

yes it's true that with this trend, the exporter's as well as OFW remittances would be affected BUT those are just microcosms of our economy. in the bigger scope, it would be beneficial to our country's economy as a whole.

[LytSlpr]

in the 90's we were into exporting fashion jewelries but the economy was good then i think it was FVR's time and the profit was not that good anymore because the peso became stronger and we were the tiger economy in asia. plus buyers request samples and place a little order then they have it "jobbed out" in china since they can also source the raw materials there and have it manufactured for much, much cheaper labor. there were no international nor local IPR laws back then for the exporter's design and the exporting business is very tedious, the pressure was there, very competitive and unpredictable so we stopped it and shifted to other lines of businesses such as realty, construction and manufacturing. right now, we laid low in contruction because contracts with the government is also not good. the bottomline is, in business pana-panahon sad na. so the exporter's and OFW's problems right now should not be Juan de la Cruz's problem.

i myself can be considered an OFW right now but the rising value of the Peso never fails to leave a smile on my face when I wake up every morning even if gamay na lang ang mapalit sa akong dollar diha.

i believe that should be the attitude of the exporters and OFW's but if they did not save for THEIR rainy day, then that is their big problem. probably that is why they are whining a lot right now.

[M@rv|n]

Agay!!! lugi ako negosyo

[baron]

i myself can be considered an OFW right now but the rising value of the Peso never fails to leave a smile on my face when I wake up every morning even if gamay na lang ang mapalit sa akong dollar diha.

Your attitude should be the example of our OFWs. Actually, some of those OFWs are not quite disappointed with the rising of the peso. Their families who know nothing but wait for their remittances and waste them on wrong priorities are the ones complaining the appreciating peso. As if they are helping this country to improve with their whining.

i believe that should be the attitude of the exporters and OFW's but if they did not save for THEIR rainy day, then that is their big problem. probably that is why they are whining a lot right now.

Indeed, they know the consequences should there be appreciation of the peso. It's just that, they didn't expect that the peso will continue to climb up the ladder after it continues to depreciate in the past. They have gained when the peso is on the losing end. They should take the risks now that the peso is strengthening.

[diem]

[color=navy]I find it really sad that even a thing like this, the Philippine Peso holding well against the US Dollar standard, people can still find something BAD to say about it.

Tsk, tsk.

[alexxandy]

no, it doesn't changed the way i live at all. mao ra man gihapon... whew...

[baron]

[color=navy]I find it really sad that even a thing like this, the Philippine Peso holding well against the US Dollar standard, people can still find something BAD to say about it.

Tsk, tsk.

This is really a sad fact, that despite the peso appreciation in the past months, it will not suffice for some of us. It's not because we are not benefiting from it but because they simply want to criticize the administration. It just wants to say that it still fails to standards however the present administration works for the improvement of the economy.

We've been earning record highs which will really be history. I don't really know why they always have to resort to such politicking. It won't help the economy move forward, anyway.