StanChart: PHL investment grade likely to come in 2014

Standard Chartered expects the Philippines to snag an investment grade rating from international credit rating agencies in 2014, not this year as others have predicted. “We expect a rating upgrade to investment grade by at least two of the three main rating agencies by end-2014,” the international banking and financial services firm said in its first Asia Focus Report for the year. Debt-watchers Standard and Poor's and Fitch Ratings have both given the Philippines a BB+ rating, one notch below investment grade, with a positive outlook. Moody's Investors Service rates the Philippines Ba1, also one notch below investment grade. The report also said the country will see strong investment growth this year and sustain its momentum from 2012. “The Philippines was the standout country in terms of the strength of on-the-ground sentiment. Its 2012 growth was among the strongest in the region, at 6.6 percent—above Indonesia’s 6.2 percent and Thailand’s 6.4 percent,” the report said. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund earlier revised upwards their growth forecasts for the Philippines' economy, with the WB changing its prediction from 5 percent in October to 6.2 percent in December and the IMF amending its 4.7-percent forecast to 6 percent in January. — BM, GMA News