By Joann Santiago
MANILA, April 24 (PNA) — Philippines’ economic managers are now eyeing an “A” category investment grade for the country in the medium term after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Friday maintained its ‘BBB’ with “stable” outlook rating on the domestic economy.
S&P’s current rating on the country as well as Moody’s Investors’ Service’s ‘Baa2’ rating on the Philippines are two notches above the junk status and two notches away from A-, the minimum rating at the A-category.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., in a statement, said the country’s fundamentals “significantly improved over the last few years.”
“With the trend staying positive, additional upgrades in the credit ratings over the medium term should be achievable,” he pointed out.
“On the part of the BSP, efforts to further improve the regulatory environment for financial institutions, maintain price stability, and strengthen external payments position would be its contributions to placing the economy on an even higher gear,” he added.
Relatively, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said an “A” category investment grade for the country is achievable.
He reiterated his earlier statements that the country remains underrated noting that investors already accord the Philippines’ debt papers ratings that are higher than those of the ratings agencies.
“If compared with those of other emerging markets, fundamentals of the Philippines are one of the strongest. And with continually improving major credit indicators, including debt manageability, credit ratings ideally should adjust accordingly,” he said.
Purisima explained that “throughout the past five years of pursuing initiatives toward good governance, we have managed to outperform even our own targets and expectations.
“Moving forward, we expect to sustain the reform momentum and to raise the bar even higher,” he said.
“We have seen the benefits of a reform-oriented leadership, and we should see more gains ahead,” he added. (PNA)