The Philippine peso closed the month with a three-day losing streak against the dollar on Thursday, ahead of a long weekend, as the upwardly revised economic growth of the US in the second quarter boosted the dollar.
The local currency shed 4 centavos to close at P51.170:$1 from 51.130 on Wednesday.
"This might be [due to the] revised up growth numbers for the US, which sends a message of economic resilience overall," Union Bank of the Philippines chief economist Ruben Carlo Asuncion told GMA News Online.
According to a report by Reuters, the gross domestic product of the world's largest economy was revised higher to show a 3 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, due partly to robust consumer spending as well as strong business investment.
Week-on-week, the local unit fell by 9 centavos from P51.08:$1 on August 25. Year-to-date, it lost P1.45 centavos from 49.720 on December 29, the last trading day of 2016. — VDS, GMA News