The peso recovered slightly against the US dollar but Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said he is “not losing sleep” over the currency’s weakness.

The peso improved to P49.771 against the US dollar from P49.84 on Friday. Volume, however, declined to $466.70 million from $538.20 million.

Addressing a forum in Quezon City on Monday, Diokno said: “I would say 50 is comfortable but we have seen 55 but the country did not collapse.”

“So I am not scared of the direction of the peso and the peso right now is weak because the US dollar has strengthened and that is because the (US) Fed will increase the interest rates and this has affected all the countries in the world “

Diokno said for every one peso the currency depreciates against the US dollar, “the government gains something like 7.2 billion (pesos). For every peso value of depreciation, the peso value of imports will increase.”

“As a result, the Bureau of Customs will collect more,” he added. Diokno said families of overseas foreign workers will also benefit from a weaker peso. DMS