Forex

It really sucks to have dollars kept in a safe instrument but the yield does not even cover half of the loss due to the appreciation of the peso in the last few months. I was initially unfazed by the strengthening of the peso against the dollar since what were the chances of the dollar going down? Slim to none -- or so I thought.

The current forex is now at PHP 41.142 : USD 1.00, and a number of financial institutions, such as Citigroup, have given a PHP 37.50 : USD 1.00 forecast by year 2008.

I also attended this Investment Seminar hosted by Citiseconline, and the speaker showed to us the Philippine Government's Budget Deficit from 2004 to 2007. The trend showed that the deficit amount has been lower for each passing year, and for 2007, the deficit was only USD 41B. Someone from the government even said that they aim for a 0 deficit by 2008. And if that happens, kiss your dollars goodbye.

So now, what to do? Hang on to the dollars I guess, and use it for travelling instead. No use converting it to peso right now since it would make me really feel the loss (not that paper loss is any better, really).