Palace assures exporters on easing strong peso effect

Malacañang assured exporters yesterday that it would do its best to ease the effects of the stronger peso on their earnings.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye gave the assurance even as he pointed out that the strengthening of the peso against the dollar was advantageous to the country in general, and that one of its immediate effects was the reduction in the foreign debt.

"For most Filipinos, the strong peso will mean a lower cost of living. And yet, the government is not insensitive to the impact of a strong peso on our exporters,’’ Bunye said.

"This is the reason why President Arroyo’s economic team is in constant dialogue with the export industry to come up with mitigating measures,’’ he said.

The peso closed at 48.10 to a dollar on Friday, the highest since March 14, 2001 when the currency touched the P48.20 level. Since exporters earn in dollars, a rise in the value of the peso translates to lower earnings for them.

On Friday, President Arroyo and her economic managers, in a televised roundtable discussion on the appreciation of the peso, said the government has not forgotten its commitment to make exporters more competitive.

Socio-economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said the government has put up a P280-million exporters fund to help them upgrade and improve the quality of export products.

He said the upgrading includes improvements in packaging, design, and marketing. Interest rate cuts have also helped exporters in terms of lower costs of inputs, according to Neri.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Magtanggol Gunigundo said that with the decline in inflation rate, the costs of inputs were lower. – Paolo Romero