Manila Region Left Under Loose Quarantine Settings, BSP Approves Loan To Gov't

Spot USD/PHP holds a very tight range and last trades -0.035 at PHP50.180. A retreat under Jul 13 low of PHP49.940 would give bears a green light for targeting Jul 5 low of PHP49.090. Bulls look to take out Jul 15 high of PHP50.420, before targeting May 28, 2020 high of PHP50.770.

• USD/PHP 1-month NDF sits +0.020 at PHP50.350 and bulls keep an eye on Jul 12 high of PHP50.740. Conversely, bears would be pleased by a dip through Jul 13 low of PHP50.100.
• Pres Duterte's spokesman announced that the NCR+ region (Metro Manila and neighbouring provinces) will remain under loose mobility curbs through the end of the month, but no additional restrictions will be implemented.
• Health Sec Duque suggested that the Philippines could add Malaysia and Thailand to its travel black list, as "these areas have been observed to have an uncontrolled surge in Delta variant cases." Manila has already shut its borders to travellers from Indonesia.
• BSP Gov Diokno said yesterday that Bangko Sentral approved a PHP540bn loan to the government, after the previous interest-free loan was paid this month. Diokno also said hat monetary policy should remain supportive until economic recovery is "fully self-sustaining," byt which point the central bank will be able to execute its pre-prepared exit strategy.
• Philippine overall BoP may hit the wires in the coming days, while budget balance is due for release next Friday.