Economics
Philippine Peso Sinks as Mayor Likened to Trump Leads Election Race
- Peso is Asia's worst performer in April amid equity outflows
- Presidential front-runner Duterte promises `business as usual'
Philippine presidential candidate, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte during an election campaign rally in Quezon city on April 23.
Photographer: Francis R. Malasig/EPAThis article is for subscribers only.
A controversial city mayor’s tightening grip on the Philippine presidential race has made the nation’s currency 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 vote. 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.