Moreover, Japan’s net external assets have increased steadily, and its net income from the rest of the world has been on an increasing trend as a result of further global expansion by Japanese firms (Chart 4). In addition, the recent substantial fall in crude oil prices will considerably improve trading gains.
The recent launch of the trading platforms for repos and Securities Lending Transactions (SLT) separately should go a long way in institutionalizing organized secondary markets. The case of the inter-professional repo platform, for example, gives us high hopes of what lies ahead. From an outstanding amount of Php5.4 Billion as of year-end 2008, it is now at Php36.3 billion as of October this year.