Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Tuesday attributed the Philippines’ jump in its investor relations ranking from 12th place in 2022 to third place in 2023 to the concerted efforts of the economic team.
The 2023 Investor Relations and Debt Transparency Report released by the Institute of International Finance ranked the Philippines 3rd of 41 countries in terms of investor relations practices. It attained an IR country score of 47.8 out of 50, higher by 6.4 index points than the previous year’s report where it ranked at 12th spot.
“The Department of Finance owes this feat to the concerted investor relations efforts of the economic team. We have been strategic in the conduct of bilateral meetings, non-deal roadshows, and investor attraction engagements such as the Philippine economic briefings abroad,” Diokno said.
Diokno said these economic briefings gave them “the platform to inspire confidence in the Philippines’ strong economic performance and favorable macroeconomic fundamentals”.
He said strong IR programs support countries’ efforts to attain stable and affordable access to international debt markets and are effective in mobilizing international private capital towards achieving global climate and sustainable development goals.
The report highlights various lR practices across emerging markets and developing countries and ranks selected countries with respect to adherence to standard lR practices and debt transparency metrics.
The assessment is based on three scores: the IR country score, debt transparency Score and ESG data and policy dissemination score.
Debt transparency is a subset of the headline IR country score and assesses sovereign borrowers’ data and policy dissemination practices, with a maximum score of 13.
The Philippines scored 11.8, earning second place from its 20th spot in the previous year. The country ranked higher than Indonesia (5th), Malaysia (14th), Thailand (17th), China (32nd) and Vietnam (34th).
Meanwhile, the ESG data and policy dissemination ranking considers the availability of ESG data, the provision of ESG-related statistics on risk assessments and how investor feedback is incorporated in policy decisions regarding ESG-related information sharing.
The Philippines also took a giant leap in this category from its 16th spot, placing it in 3rd place with a score of 3.9 out of 4.
The report also cites technical recommendations to improve investor relations and debt transparency practices scores. These are ensuring the availability of policy and data documents in English; strengthening data and information transparency efforts; making ESG data and policy information available on investor relations office (IRO) websites; and enhancing direct engagement with investors.
The IIF is the global association of the financial industry with about 400 members from more than 60 countries. It provides its members with global economic and financial research, advocacy and access to leading industry events.