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Time to remit? Philippine peso slides 16.25 against UAE dirham amid US-Israel-Iran war
While overseas Filipinos may gain from a higher exchange rate, higher oil prices, utility rates, and inflationary costs of food items have long cancelled the temporary benefit
- PUBLISHED: Thu 19 Mar 2026, 8:13 PM UPDATED: Fri 20 Mar 2026, 7:14 PM
[Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid US-Israel-Iran war for the latest regional developments.]
The Philippine peso breached P60 to a US dollar at the close of trading on Thursday, the lowest it had been in history. The Philippine currency also slipped past 16.25 against the UAE dirham, from 15.98 on Wednesday.
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While overseas Filipinos and their families in the Philippines may gain from the higher exchange rates, current runaway oil prices, higher utility rates and inflationary costs of food items have long cancelled the temporary benefit.
The peso to dollar rate before the US-Israel-Iran war was at P57.608 to a US dollar. There have been four successive devaluations since the Middle East crisis started.
The price of a litre of diesel have more than doubled from P55 to P120 (Dh3.38 to Dh7.38) in some parts of the archipelago since the joint US-Israel attack on Iran on February 28 that threatens to inflate further as the war shows no sign of de-escalation.
Prices of food items, such as in roadside eateries – popular among poor Filipinos – are going up. “Cooking gas, rice, meat and vegetables prices have already increased as our suppliers depend on diesel for delivery,” Mercedes, a food vendor, explained to Khaleej Times. She said she has increased the price of a portion of rice by P5 to P20 and started selling half-orders of viand to her regular customers who are tricycle drivers.
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Tricycle drivers in Barangay (Village) Commonwealth in Quezon City earned between P200 to P300 per day in the predominantly poor community before the US-Israel-Iran war.
Utility prices also rising
Even before the war in the Middle East started, electricity supplier Meralco announced a rate increase of P0.6427 per kWh for the month, bringing the total residential rate to P13.8161 per kWh. A typical household consuming 200 kWh will see an increase of about P129 in their monthly bill due to higher transmission charges and increased ancillary service costs.
Water suppliers have also announced rate hikes for March, with Maynilad increasing by an average of P0.09 per cubic meter while Manila Water shall apply an upward adjustment of P0.04 per cubic meter. Filipino households usually increase their water consumption as the hot and humid season usually starts in April until August.
The peso’s value dive would also prove problematic for the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government that is already grappling with a trade-in-goods deficit of $49.17 billion in 2025, driven by a 4.7 per cent rise in imports ($133.57 billion).
This is expected to be compounded as the Philippines scrambles for alternative sources of both refined and crude oil products as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
In 2025, the Philippines' net energy imports cost the country $9.276 billion in refined petroleum and $2.7 billion in crude petroleum, reflecting continued high reliance on foreign oil to support the economy.
The country’s traditional source of refined petroleum products – China, Japan and South Korea – have announced a suspension of exports to customers like the Philippines, worsening supply problems of liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil sourced from the Middle East.
