PH jumps from 12th to 3rd place in investor relations and debt transparency ranking

The Investor Relations (IR) Country Score of the Philippines jumped from 12th place in 2022 to 3rd place in 2023,  according to the 2023 IR and Debt Transparency Report of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) based in Washington, DC.

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 environment, social, and governance (ESG) data and policy information.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that the country scored 47.8 points out of 50 points.^[1] With an increase of 6.4 points from a score of 41.4 in 2022, the Philippines registered the most improved score among the top 10 countries on the list.

The Philippines follows Indonesia at 48.4 (1st) and Turkey at 48.3 (2nd), and precedes Colombia at 47.5 (4th) and Brazil at 45.5 (5th).

BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said, “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.”

The IR program of the BSP entails reaching out to stakeholders to disseminate continuously updated information on the Philippine economy and to solicit feedback from the investment community. The Economic Team’s proactive engagement with investors through regular participation in investor conferences, bilateral meetings, economic briefings, and non-deal roadshows have contributed to the Philippines’ improved ranking.

Notable enhancements were also observed in the following areas:

• The BSP Investor Relations Group webpage that now features ESG information in response to investors’ growing interest in the Philippine government’s ESG agenda
• The dissemination of macroeconomic data
• The dissemination of ESG data and policy information
• Feedback and communication channels

The IIF IR and Debt Transparency Report features guidelines for emerging markets’ best practices on IR and data dissemination in conjunction with the Principles for Stable Capital Flows and Fair Debt Restructuring.

The 2023 assessment  was conducted through a combination of IIF’s desk research and a survey of countries with active IR programs.