The Philippine peso experienced the most significant decline in Asia as expectations for an interest-rate cut increased following the release of weak economic growth data last week.

On Monday, the Peso dropped by as much as 0.7% to 57.81 per Dollar, while the Indonesian Rupiah and Malaysian Ringgit experienced smaller declines of around 0.2%. These losses pushed the Peso closer to the 58 level, which is considered the latest threshold for the central bank to defend.

The weakness in the Peso comes ahead of a rate decision by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Thursday. Even though the majority of market watchers anticipate rates to remain unchanged as the central bank balances the need to support the currency and boost growth, expectations are growing for easing later this year, Bloomberg reports.

“Market is anticipating more dovish signals from the central bank in view of the rate-setting meeting this week. A rate cut later this year is justified given that inflation pressure is receding, though there is a need to wait for the Federal Reserve to cut first,” said Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. in Manila.

Last month, governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Eli Remolona said it’s more probable that monetary easing will get underway in Q1 next year, and that rate cuts won’t be “huge,” noting inflationary risks.

The Philippine economy grew by 5.7% from a year earlier in the first quarter, falling short of expectations for growth of 5.9%. Inflation in April came in below forecasts, although the ongoing strain on food supply continues to put pressure on prices.