Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno welcomed the Philippines’ standing in the 2023 Investor Relations and Debt Transparency Report released by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) last month.

“The Department of Finance owes this feat to the concerted investor relations efforts of the economic team,” said Diokno in a statement late Monday.

“We have been strategic in the conduct of bilateral meetings, non-deal roadshows, and investor attraction engagements such as the Philippine Economic Briefings abroad, which have given us the platform to inspire confidence in the Philippines’ strong economic performance and favorable macroeconomic fundamentals,” he added.

The Philippines ranked third out of 41 countries in terms of investor relations (IR) practices with an IR country score of 47.8 out of 50.

This is higher by 6.4 index points compared to the previous year’s report where it stood at the 12th spot.

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.

The report highlights various IR 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 which include the IR Country Score, Debt Transparency Score, and ESG Data and Policy Dissemination Score.

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.

Debt transparency, on the other hand, 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 and leaped to 2nd place from its 20th spot in the previous year.

Meanwhile, the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Data and Policy Dissemination ranking consider 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 ranked third place with a score of 3.9 out of 4. In the last report, the country was in the 16th spot.

The report also cites technical recommendations to improve investor relations and debt transparency practices scores.

These include 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. (PNA)