I got a rude awakening this morning.
The newspaper headline read:
Gone are the days when the exchange rate was 55 pesos to a dollar. Ugh. Just when my earnings were rising. But I guess it is a double-edged sword. The economy is doing well (although debatable) which naturally means that the local currency must improve too. Being a Management Economics major, this basically means that imports become cheaper thus decreasing manufacturing costs and on a macroeconomic level, inflation. But on the other side of the fence, dollar earners such as exporters face stiffer competition and thus experience a drop in earnings.
I earn part of my keep from Adsense and Text Link Ads, both paying me in dollars. Although my earnings are steadily rising since the start of this year, the peso was also appreciating, almost completely canceling out those gains. I know that Adsense offers the option to pay me in pesos, although I wish the conversion happened retroactively rather than on the date the payment is approved. But that is only beneficial when the currency is on the rise.
I hope the peso rate settles down soon so that all my efforts wouldn’t be such a futile exercise. It’s not me being greedy, just me looking out for myself.