The Philippine peso will continue to lose ground against the dollar in 2019, a Fitch Group unit said, with factors such as country’s trade and current account deficits and still high inflation leading to a P54.13:$1 close by yearend.

“We expect the Philippine peso to weaken slightly against the dollar within the trend channel in the near-term given the persistent twin deficit situation, political uncertainty, and a still-negative real interest rate differential with respect to the US,” Fitch Solutions said in a report released on Wednesday.