THE PHILIPPINES improved its investor relations (IR) score this year to third-best, according to a ranking compiled by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
In its 2023 IR and Debt Transparency Report, the IIF said the Philippines has been strongly communicating developments in its economy to investors and other interested parties.
The Philippines’ IR country score was 47.8 points out of 50.
In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the score is significantly improved from 41 points in 2022, good enough for 12th place. The Philippines had the most improved score among the top 10 countries.
Indonesia (48.4) and Turkey (48.3) topped the rankings. Others receiving top ratings were Colombia (47.5), Brazil (45.5), Uruguay (45.2), Peru (44.9), Romania (43.2), Mexico (43.7), and Egypt (42.4).
“This makes the Philippines’ IR practices among the best in the 41 emerging markets and developing countries assessed by IIF and indicates the country’s effectiveness in engaging investors and transparency in giving public access to macroeconomic and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data and policy information,” the BSP said.
The IIF Best Practices for Investor Relations are based on voluntary guidelines set for authorities aiming to improve their IR and data dissemination practices. The Washington-based IIF reviews the compliance of emerging market borrowers and reports findings annually.
“The IIF assessment highlights the success of the Philippines in communicating the strength and resilience of the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals and the continuity of sound structural reforms to investors and other stakeholders,” BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said in a statement on Saturday, just before he was due to step down from the central bank.
Meanwhile, the Philippines scored 11.8 points out of 13 in debt transparency, the second highest in the list after Turkey (12). Also receiving top marks were Colombia (11.8), Peru (11.7), and Indonesia (11.4).
According to the IIF, the debt transparency score is a subset of the headline IR country score. The assessment considers a country’s adherence to the Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS) of the International Monetary Fund, enhanced transparency practices, user-friendliness of macroeconomic and ESG data formats, and ESG data.
On ESG and policy dissemination, the Philippines scored 3.9 points out of four points. The highest scores were attained by Indonesia and Uruguay, both achieving a score of 4, followed by the Philippines and Mexico (3.8).
This year’s IIF IR assessment covered 41 emerging markets from various regions, including sub-Saharan Africa. — Keisha B. Ta-asan