THE Philippine peso fell to a fresh 12-year low on Thursday, closing at P53.515 against the dollar due to factors such as the country’s widening trade deficit, tariff wars between the world’s biggest economies and more US Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The currency, which has been described as Asia’s worst-performing this year, closed 4 centavos down from P53.475:$1 on Wednesday, its lowest since a P53.55:$1 finish on June 29, 2006.