PH bond, forex markets reopening Wednesday

Philippine bond and foreign exchange markets are set to reopen on Wednesday, March 18, one day after the trading holiday prompted by a Luzon-wide community quarantine meant to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have a go (for) Wednesday,” Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) Ben Castillo confirmed in a text message late Tuesday.

The fixed income trading platform under the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. and the spot foreign exchange market under the Philippine Dealing System group will resume operations one day ahead of the reopening of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The stock, bond and foreign exchange markets were locked down on Tuesday based ib the government’s initial order that only private establishments providing basic necessities as well as those related to food and medicine production, business process outsourcing (BPO) and export-oriented industries, may remain open during the “enhanced community quarantine” that now covers the whole of Luzon island.

Market infrastructure utilities are now exempted from the month-long community quarantine imposed by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno tweeted on Tuesday night that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) had granted the local stock and bond trading platforms exemption from the enhanced quarantine measures “after they assured the authorities that necessary safeguards to ensure the safety of their employees and the community they interact with, are in place.”