Debt raters acknowledge Philippine gains -- central bank
REPRESENTATIVES of credit rating agencies Philippine economic officials met in Washington, DC at the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank meetings last month acknowledged fiscal improvements the country has achieved and agreed that fresh reviews should be done “late this year to early-2012,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a press statement on Tuesday.
The central bank said BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. and Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima briefed “high ranking officials” of credit raters Standard & Poor’s (S&P), Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings “on the latest developments in the Philippine credit story.”
“It was clear from the discussions that the Philippines is well-positioned for any global slowdown,” the central bank said in its statement, adding that credit rating officials during the meeting “acknowledged that the country has considerable policy flexibility to deal with global economic and financial uncertainties.”
Fitch currently has the highest rating for the Philippines at BB+, just one level shy of the much-coveted investment grade, while Moody’s and S&P ratings are two grades short at Ba2 and BB, respectively.
The central bank said credit raters particularly noted the country’s:
• continued robust external liquidity position with gross international reserves at $76 billion as of end-August against gross external debt of $61 billion as of end-March;
• external debt ratios that are better than those of many of the Philippines’ peers;
• “skillful handling by monetary authorities” of continued surge in “hot money” inflows;
• improved performance of state revenue collectors; and
• approval of Republic Act No. 10149, or the GOCC (government-owned and -controlled corporations) Governance Act of 2011 which institutionalizes good governance practices in state firms.