PSE rejects higher stock transaction tax

transaction tax hike approved by legislators would make the local market “uncompetitive”, the chief of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said.

- ment’s comprehensive tax reform percent from 0.5 percent.

“In absolute terms, it seems - sents a 20-percent increase from the present 50 bps,” PSE President on Wednesday.

“What we have to understand is the Philippine Stock Exchange does not operate in the local market alone. We really compete with the other exchanges such as or Vietnam. We compete for the money of the foreign investors,” he said.

“When you are increasing the transaction tax, you’re increasing the transaction cost. As it is right now … [ the] transaction tax is already the highest in the region,” he added.

legislators should be conscious of what global and regional peers do as foreign investors would always invest in countries where transaction cost is less.

“[I]f you are to add the transaction cost, we become very uncompetitive with the other stock exchanges,” he said.

“Our volume in the market for 2017 is just the same if not less than the volume for 2016. Obviously we need to do a lot of work to increase the volume of interest said.

- Act. President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign the bill into law next week.