House Appropriations Committee Chairman and Davao City (1st Dist.) Rep. Karlo Nograles defended President Rodrigo Duterte, whose policies and profane diatribe is being blamed for the weakening economy.
“Global market forces is the main culprit behind the series of drops in the Philippine Stock Market and has nothing to do with President Duterte’s anti-drug war policy and his alleged verbal attacks against western leaders,” Nograles said.
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| Photo Courtesy of The Philippine Star |
Nograles is a nephew of the tough-talking Duterte, who before winning the presidency last May was longtime Davao mayor.
The Philippine peso, now pegged at over P48 against the US dollar, has reportedly hit a seven-year low within the first three months of Duterte’s leadership.
But Nograles, a lawyer, also stressed that the stock market should not be used as the gauge to measure the country’s economic health. He pointed out that portfolio investments are naturally unpredictable as investors are in constant hunt for more profitable stocks.
Nograles said the hiccups in the stock market for the past several weeks is influenced by the anticipation of monetary policy tightening in the US that prompted portfolio investors to reconfigure their portfolio allocations.
Nograles cited the position of Philippine Association of Stock Brokers and Dealers Inc. President Vivian Yuchengco who said that foreign selling of Philippine stocks have occurred even before the ruckus about President Duterte’s war against drugs and his alleged verbal attack against US President Barack Obama to prove that the movement in the stock market is market driven.
He further noted that the country’s economic fundamentals remain very strong and with President Duterte’s commitment to bring order in the streets and finally end the country’s multi-pronged insurgency problem, the Philippines will emerge stronger as one of Asia’s primary hub for FDIs.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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