Manila, Philippines, August 24, 2012 – Following the successful investor presentations of the Philippine Government in the United States last June, the country’s economic team led by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Treasurer Roberto Tan visited Singapore on August 21 to 22 and met with banks and investor groups. The Philippine government’s economic team provided an update on the fiscal and macroeconomic situation of the Philippines, as well as on the milestones of the Aquino Administration’s governance reform agenda. Among others, the economic team outlined the recently reported notable economic statistics such as the 11.6 percent year-on-year growth in revenues for the first six months of 2012 amounting to P760.9 billion, the solid foreign exchange reserves at US$79.3 billion as of end-July and the sustained robust inflow of cash remittances by overseas Filipinos which reached US$10.1 billion during the first half of 2012.

The economic team highlighted that the consistent strong performance of the Philippine economy was achieved against the backdrop of continued global economic volatilities. Despite the debt crisis in Europe, economic slowdown in China, and weak consumption in the US, the Philippines is structurally well positioned to sustain its growth. Remittances come from a variety of countries and have grown consistently over the past decade; Increased capitalization by banks and steps to improve asset quality have strengthened the Philippine banking system’s ability to withstand shocks. The country has also managed to maintain a solid external credit profile.

Government is strongly committed to accelerate the provision of safe, efficient, reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable infrastructure to support growth.  The continuing positive development in the Philippines’ sovereign credit ratings was also a key part of the agenda in the meetings. Secretary Purisima said that the recent positive credit rating actions give  the Aquino administration more confidence to continue with the work that the government’s economic team had started towards macroeconomic stability, fiscal sustainability and inclusive economic growth. Given that the cost of protecting Philippine bonds against default for five years is lower than some investment-grade countries such as Russia, and considering that two out of the three major credit rating agencies rate  the country one notch below investment grade, Secretary Purisma emphasized that the Philippines can clearly make its case for an investment grade status. Much of the optimism around the Philippine economy stems from President Aquino’s moves to clean up corruption, reign in the budget deficit, and invest in upgrading the country’s infrastructure network.

The reception was very positive throughout the investor presentations, with investors recognizing the strong performance of the Philippine economy and the Aquino Administration’s commitment to good governance.

Other members of the Philippine delegation included Assistant Governor Cyd Amador of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and Executive Director Claro Fernandez of the BSP’s Investor Relations Office.

The investor presentations were supported by Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ING, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and UBS.

CONTACT:
MR. CLARO FERNANDEZ
Investor Relations Office
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Tel No. + 632 708 7487
Email: fernandezcp@bsp.gov.ph