Philippine Stocks to Overtake Economy This Year: Southeast Asia

The second-biggest Philippine fund manager said the value of the stock market will exceed the size of the economy this year for the first time as low interest rates and faster economic growth spur a record equity rally.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index may gain 29 percent this year to 7,500, boosting the value of the entire market, while gross domestic product in current prices may expand 9 percent, Paul Joseph Garcia, a fund manager at Manila-based BPI Asset Management Inc., said in a March 5 interview. His prediction means the economy would reach about $280 billion.