MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the regulatory environment for foreign exchange was already "very liberal" and there was no need to further relax rules.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said individuals and companies were free to bring out dollars and other foreign currencies, and so further relaxation was not warranted.

"We are not thinking of liberalizing the foreign exchange system further. It is already very liberal," he said.

Guinigundo's statement came as exporters requested the BSP to weaken the peso through supportive policies to strengthen their competitiveness.

But Guinigundo said the peso was only strong in nominal terms.

Last December, the BSP relaxed forex rules, allowing investors or clients of trust departments of banks and non-banks to invest up to $30 million in other currencies or instruments denominated in other currencies without getting any clearance from the central bank.