No. 21 10.30.2008

Trade and Industry

Information CenterMakati City,PhilippinesTel.: (632) 895.3611Fax: (632) 895.6487publications@dti.gov.ph

Copies availableupon request.

Upbeat No. 12 06.18.13

International credit rating firmStandard & Poor’s (S&P) named thePhilippines as the "First SovereignRising Star of 2013," for becomingthe first country to convinceinvestors that it is a safeinvestments haven. This afterS&P upgraded the country fromspeculative to investment grade.

S&P’s speculative grade rangesfrom ‘D’ to ‘BB+’, while an investment grade, from‘BB-‘ to ‘AAA’.

The country has surpassed Barbados, Croatia,Indonesia, Romania, and Turkey, which all havethe BB+ rating, just a notch below the minimuminvestment grade.

Aside from the Philippines, 13 other bond issuerswere also upgraded to the investment grade for thefirst time. However, these 13 new bond issuersare corporate bodies.

PHL, first sovereignrising star this 2013

“The upgrade reflects the Philippines’ strengthening externalprofile, the moderating inflation, and the government’sdeclining reliance on foreign currency debt,” S&P statedin its report titled “The Philippines Is the First Sovereign RisingStar of 2013.”

The increasing foreign exchange inflows from migrantworkers' remittances, foreign investments in the businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) sector, and foreign investmentsin peso-denominated stocks and bonds played a huge rolefor the upgrade.

The country has received three credit rating upgrades fromcredit watchdogs namely Fitch, S&P, and Japan Credit RatingAgency Ltd. (JCR). It is expecting a similar upgradefrom Moody’s, another major credit rating agency.

Meanwhile, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC)reported that the Philippines jumped five places in thelatest World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY).

“Overall, the Philippines is movingin the right direction and itsimproved rankings in growth ratesare a reflection of this. Since westill lag in actual levels ofperformance across a numberof key fronts (e.g., investments,trade, and others), it is absolutelycritical for us to maintainmomentum and a pace ofimprovement that is faster than thatof our major competitors. We areconfident that the pace willcontinue to pick up.,” NCC Co-Chairman Guillermo Luz said.