Japan rating agency upgrades PHL credit outlook to positive

Tokyo-based Japan Credit Rating Agency Ltd. (JCR) on Thursday upgraded the outlook for the Philippines to positive from stable, citing the country's strong economy. JCR affirmed its BBB- ratings on the foreign currency and local currency long-term senior debts of the Republic of the Philippines and revised the outlook of the ratings to positive from stable, the agency said in a statement. "The revision of the rating outlook reflects the greater possibility that the Philippine economy will resume momentum for the improving trend of its fiscal position after it weathered the challenges of the world financial crisis rather successfully," chief analyst Yoshihiko Tamura and JCR analyst Makoto Ikushima were cited as saying in a statement issued by JCR. Philippine output in gross domestic product terms expanded by a surprising 7.3 percent last year from 1.1 percent in 2009, the fastest since 1976, according to the JCR analysts. "The Philippine economy managed to retain positive growth in 2009 [after]… it was hit by the global financial crisis. In 2010, it achieved a high 7.3 percent growth on solid domestic demand supported by strong overseas Filipino remittances as well as the base effect," JCR said. — VS, GMA News