Duterte's 'Build, Build, Build' plans hit Philippine peso

Manila

PHILIPPINE construction firm Teravera Corp is planning to raise a fourth dollar loan in a year, after borrowing around US$2.5 million to buy dozens of excavators, road rollers and dump trucks from China, South Korea and Japan.

Teravera is one of hundreds of local builders contributing to a surge in capital goods imports that has turned the country's current account surplus into a deficit and knocked the peso down to 11-year lows against the dollar last month.

While the peso's dip is raisi…