Philippine election is coming to its final moment, Mayor Duterte still dominating the survey for the presidential race. But the nation's currency sinks, the Asia's worst performer this month.
The peso slumped 1.6 percent in April as opinion polls showed Rodrigo Duterte, the crime-busting leader of Davao city who made inflammatory comments about rape and extra-judicial killing--extended his lead before the May 9 election. He spent 22 years running the city of 1.5 million people and trailed his two closest rivals in a Bloomberg survey of economists on which candidate would best steer economic policy. Duterte's popularity has been boosted by peoples anxiety over crime and, like U.S President candidate Donald Trump, supporters praise him for straight-talking. As the election looms, Philippine bond risk has climed from near an eight-month low and foreigners have pulled $41 million from local stocks this month.
The peso fell 0.1 percent to 46.81 per dollar as of 1:30 p.m. in Manila, while the nation's benchmark stock index dropped 0.9 percent. The currency is headed for its worst month since August and reached 46.943 on Tuesday, the weakest level in seven weeks. "We could see the peso hitting 48 per dollar before heading back to 46.50 by the end of the year," said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. in Manila."It's driven by fear and the normal reaction of local investors to buy the dollar."
Duterte has won support from locals by transforming Davao from a city battling crime and gangs in the 1980s to what his campaign calls one of the nation's safest. Duterte, 71 year old former lawyer and prosecutor is facing a backlash for comments he made about the rape of an Australian missionary in 1989 prison riot.
The peso slumped 1.6 percent in April as opinion polls showed Rodrigo Duterte, the crime-busting leader of Davao city who made inflammatory comments about rape and extra-judicial killing--extended his lead before the May 9 election. He spent 22 years running the city of 1.5 million people and trailed his two closest rivals in a Bloomberg survey of economists on which candidate would best steer economic policy. Duterte's popularity has been boosted by peoples anxiety over crime and, like U.S President candidate Donald Trump, supporters praise him for straight-talking. As the election looms, Philippine bond risk has climed from near an eight-month low and foreigners have pulled $41 million from local stocks this month.
The peso fell 0.1 percent to 46.81 per dollar as of 1:30 p.m. in Manila, while the nation's benchmark stock index dropped 0.9 percent. The currency is headed for its worst month since August and reached 46.943 on Tuesday, the weakest level in seven weeks. "We could see the peso hitting 48 per dollar before heading back to 46.50 by the end of the year," said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. in Manila."It's driven by fear and the normal reaction of local investors to buy the dollar."
Duterte has won support from locals by transforming Davao from a city battling crime and gangs in the 1980s to what his campaign calls one of the nation's safest. Duterte, 71 year old former lawyer and prosecutor is facing a backlash for comments he made about the rape of an Australian missionary in 1989 prison riot.
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