Philippine bonds fell before President Benigno Aquino makes his first speech to Congress after the media reported him as saying his government has some revelations about the former administration that may “shock.”
Aquino, whose team took office on June 30, said he’d uncovered at least five “anomalies” from President Gloria Arroyo’s government, which he may reveal in his speech today. The Philippines’ budget deficit was 196.7 billion pesos ($4.2 billion) in the first six months of the year, more than the official 178.5 billion peso target. Achieving the 325 billion peso full-year estimate will be a “challenge,” according to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.
The Philippine Stock Exchange said investors should “disregard” its data on the benchmarkPhilippine Stock Exchange Index after its figures showed the measure surged by a record 15 percent today.
The transfer to a new trading system caused the glitch, the exchange said in an e-mailed statement. The benchmark fell less than 0.1 percent to 3,414.03 at the noon close in Manila, the bourse said in a separate statement. The gauge climbed 15 percent to 3,937.39 earlier today while the Philippine Stock Exchange Finance Index more than tripled.
