Rather than commenting on President Aquino’s SONA and describing what he has done the past two years, we’d like to show you in tables and graphs how PNoy has performed since he took over.
PSE index (since PNoy presidency to present)
The PSE index was below 3,400 when President Aquino took over and now it is well above 5,000.
Stock market performance (since PNoy presidency to present)
The PSE index is up 54.8 percent since June 30, 2010, outperforming the rest of Asia and the developed world.
US dollar-Philippine peso exchange rate (since PNoy presidency to present)
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso has strengthened against the US dollar by almost 10 percent from P46.50 to P42 during the past two years. Note that the BSP has successfully kept the peso stable between the P42 to P44.50 range from September 2010 to June 2012.
Euro-Philippine peso exchange rate (since PNoy presidency to present)
Similarly, the peso has appreciated a little over 10 percent against the euro over the same period.
Currency performance (since PNoy presidency to present)
In Asia, only the Singapore dollar came ahead of the peso. What we find alarming, however, is the peso’s strong appreciation against the Indian rupee (see our article Too Much of a Good Thing, July 9, 2012).
Philippine peso vs. Indian rupee (2003 to present)
India is our biggest competitor in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. We are concerned that Philippine BPO companies are slowly losing their competitiveness given the 30% appreciation of the peso against the rupee over the last two years.
Government 10-year bond yields
Honesty emanates from the top
We would like to reiterate what Washington Sycip, one of our directors in Philequity, told us in several of our meetings. “We now have an honest president and this is an important factor for investing in our country.” It instills confidence and trust in the people around him. The cabinet is honest and is doing a good job without fanfare. Investors take that as an important cue for making further investments in the Philippines. Honesty emanates from the top.
More than words, we believe that our tables and graphs show how the PNoy presidency has performed.
For further stock market research and to view our previous articles, please visit our online trading platform at www.wealthsec.com or call 634-5038. Our archived articles can also be viewed at www.philequity.net.