MANILA, May 3 (PNA) — The Philippine peso is seen to stay on defensive mode until the May 9 national elections, an economist of ING Bank Manila said.

ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said the performance of the peso depends on the developments ahead of the elections on Monday.

”History is not a good benchmark for that,” he told reporters after the joint economic briefing of the ING Bank and the Economic Journalist Association of the Philippines (EJAP) at Makati Shangri La Tuesday.

On Monday, the peso closed at its two-month low against the greenback at 46.96.

At the end of Tuesday’s morning session, the local unit’s weighted average stood at 46.98.

Cuyegkeng said investors are considering the peso to weaken to as much as 47.50 due to election-related concerns.

”It all depends on what happens from now until the elections,” he said.

The economist said another poll-related survey that is scheduled to come out will play a major role in people’s choices.

“The pulse of the people on the ground is gonna be very important until the next few days. The outcome is gonna be very import,” he said.

”In the meantime the peso will gonna be defensive and will continue to underperform other Asian currencies,” he added. (PNA)