NEWSFLASH

---

PESO WEAKENS TO P42.687=$1

Manila, Feb. 1, 1998 - The peso weakened for the second day, losing 27.7 centavos for a weighted average of P42.687 to the US dollar, as the Philippine National Bank started assisting the central bank in stabilizing the currency.

Currency dealers saw that the high corporate demand for dollars was met by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas which sold dollars through the Philippine National Bank. An estimated $50 million was sold by the PNB, accounting for almost a third of the $60.4 million total volume of transactions for the day.

The sudden activity of the PNB in the Philippine Dealing System raised a few eyebrows. One of the rumors is that the central bank and the PNB have an agreement that could allow the PNB to sell to the central bank the $540 million Swiss deposits of the Marcoses which will be transferred to the PNB next month.

---