Wake-up time for the Philippines

Left for dead after the financial crisis, the Philippine stock market is barely a rounding error on foreign investor's portfolios. But despite the country's economic woes, the market has emerged recently from its long sleep. Whether the recovery is a long-term trend or a brief flutter on an otherwise flat line seems to be up to the government. Chris Leahy reports.

“All of this depends on the political
leadership of the president and congress”

VISIT THE WEBSITE of the Philippine Stock Exchange, click on the IPOs section and a blank page pops up. Given the absence of Philippine equity offerings in recent years, it seems appropriate. Perhaps the webmaster felt he had better things to do elsewhere on the site than attend to a page that never needed updating. But the unthinkable has happened. The Philippines has seen not one but two IPOs in 2005.

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