Foreign investors are expected to return to the Philippines share market after the national elections in May, and refocus on the economy's strength after their record net sales last year, the country's stock exchange chief said on Monday.
The share market's six-year bull run ended in 2015 as investors withdrew funds from many emerging markets, with some shying away from the Philippines because of uncertainty over who will lead the country once President Benigno Aquino's six-year term ends.
Philippine Stock Exchange President Hans Sicat saw the setback as temporary.
"With the macroeconomic fundamentals being generally balanced, investors will see that the Philippines is a good story and that this is just a hiccup in the scheme of things,"
Sicat told Reuters in an interview.
The Philippines' benchmark index has lost 3.61 percent so far this year, less than the 5.83 percent drop in Vietnam. Indonesia was up 0.69 percent and Thailand rose 0.72 percent year-to-date.
Sicat said Philippine stocks are trading at a discount compared with a year ago, and the market should benefit from the increased liquidity as global central banks ease monetary policy to support their economies.
Notching 6.3 percent growth the fourth quarter, the economy was helped by strong domestic demand while government spending cushioned the impact of weak exports which are hurting many of the Philippines' larger, trade-reliant neighbours.
A number of Philippine companies are likely tap the stock market for their funding requirements in the second half, Sicat said.
The PSE aims to facilitate capital raising activities worth some 200 billion pesos ($4.2 billion) this year, the same as last year.
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