Moody’s lauds Philippine economy as stable

Manila / DPA

The Philippines’ stable macroeconomic profile would enable the country to withstand external shocks better than most of its neighbors could, debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service said.
In a statement, the government’s Investor Relations Office (IRO) cited a recent Moody’s report which assessed the Philippines’ macroeconomic profile as “Moderate+,” better than the assessment of “Moderate” for China, India, Indonesia and Thailand, as well as Vietnam’s “Weak-.”
Moody’s assessed countries” macroeconomic profiles ranging from “Very Weak-” to “Very Strong+.”
“When assessing a sovereign’s macroeconomic profile, Moody’s takes into account a host of factors, including economic strength, institutional strength, susceptibility to event risks, and credit conditions,” the IRO noted.
The IRO quoted Moody’s as attributing its relatively favourable assessment of the country’s macroeconomic profile to “robust economic growth, comfortable external liquidity, and improved institutional strength.” The last five years saw the Philippine economy expand at its fastest pace since the late 1970s.
In its March 18 banking report, Moody’s noted that the Philippines “remains among the fastest growing major economies in the Asia-Pacific region.”
The debt watcher also said it expected the country’s gross domestic product or GDP to expand by 6 per cent in 2016 to outpace the 5.8-per-cent growth posted in 2015.
Also, “the country’s institutional strength has also improved, driven in part by an increasingly credible track record of policy effectiveness by a number of national agencies, especially the central bank,” Moody’s said.