| The Philippine peso declined to one-and-a-half-year low on Wednesday, closing at 48.74 against the greenback.
The closing rate was 0.46 peso lower than that on Tuesday, and 0.14 peso lower compared to Wednesday's opening rate.
The volume traded reached to 1.4095 billion U.S. dollars, sharply higher compared to Tuesday's 590 million dollars, according to the data from the Philippine Dealing and Exchange System.
Analysts said that investors were selling their risky assets to scramble for the safety of dollar investments.
"Threats of a global recession force hedge funds and investors sell risky assets" in spite of the remittance volume and good economic fundamentals of the Southeast Asian country, said a local banker Marcelo Ayes, quoted by Philippine TV network GMA News.
Government officials are expecting the local currency to recover with remittance influx during the Christmas season from overseas Filipino workers. They said that overseas remittances will reach 15.7 billion dollars this year.
In 2007, peso appreciated by nearly 20 percent. It was one of the best performing currencies in Asia.
(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2008) | 
