Philippines leads in global investor relations, debt transparency

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines ranked first among 50 countries in terms of global investor relations and debt transparency, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF).

Based on the 2024 IIF Investor Relations and Debt Transparency Report, the Philippines saw its investment relations score improve to 48.8 out of 50 from last year’s 47.8.

This allowed the Philippines to secure the top spot out of 50 countries assessed. The country’s score was also above the average of 34.1.

“As the tightening of global financial conditions comes to a halt and expectations for central bank rate cuts take hold, investor confidence has significantly improved this year,” the IIF said.

The score evaluates overall investor relations practices of countries across 23 criteria.

The Philippines also led in terms of debt transparency with a score of 12.5 out of 13. The country tied with Indonesia in the top spot.

Debt transparency aims to assess sovereign borrowers’ data and policy dissemination practices.

Similarly, the Philippines attained the highest environmental, social and governance (ESG) data and policy dissemination score with a perfect score of four, together with Uruguay.

“There is a growing demand for more detailed, substantial climate-related information by both private and public creditors,” IIF said.

“It is crucial that sovereign debtors enhance their capacity to disclose relevant information that helps the understanding of climate risks and opportunities for both domestic and international investors,” it said.

While the Philippines secured the highest scores, the IIF still listed areas where the country can improve on.

As such, the Philippines is urged to subscribe to the Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus of the International Monetary Fund.

The IIF likewise encouraged that the Philippines’ policy and macroeconomic information be distributed to the investor list via email at least every two weeks and that investor conference calls are archived on government websites.