Dollar hurting peso, US-allied currencies

Currencies of Asian countries allied with the United States (US), like the Philippine peso, depreciated the most against the US dollar in October, according to Singapore-based DBS Bank Ltd.

- BEN ARNOLD DE VERA

"In Asia, the BRICS currencies—Chinese yuan, Indian rupee, Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit, and Thai baht—were significantly more resilient than the US-allied currencies such as Japanese yen, South Korean won, and Philippine peso," DBS Group Research senior foreign exchange (FX) strategist Philip Wee said in a report on Friday, Oct. 31.

BRICS, which stands for the group of major emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has been expanding to include other emerging markets (EMs) and is reportedly developing a common currency to challenge the US dollar's dominance and advance dedollarization efforts.

"[October's] top BRICS currencies were the baht and ringgit, which staged a late comeback this week on the Fed's [US Federal Reserve] rate cut and the Xi-Trump agreement to extend the trade truce for another year," DBS said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.