Dragon Boat team wins 5 world championship golds
The Philippines continues to flex
its muscles in the international sports scene.
The Philippine Dragon Boat team
took home 5 gold medals, 3 silvers and 3 bronzes from the ICF Dragon Boat World
Championships in Poznan, Poland.
The nation’s paddlers showcased
their wares in seniors men, juniors men and seniors mixed categories. The
Philippine delegation were considered first-time paddlers for a World
Championship and had to endure the unfamiliar cold weather compared to the
tropical weather they trained with back home.
While the Philippines did not join
all events, they figured in a successful performance as they tallied medals in
all 11 events they participated in.
They competed against and were at
par with some of the world’s best including Russia, Poland and Canada. (Source:
Goodnewspilipinas.com/Photo courtesy of dragonboat.ph)
PHL gets investment
grade rating from Korean agency
The Philippines has gotten another
investment grade sovereign credit rating, this time from South Korea-based
National Information and Credit Evaluation (NICE) Ratings Inc.
NICE Ratings gave the Philippines
investment status for the first time. It raised the country’s long-term,
foreign-currency rating by a notch from junk to the minimum investment grade of
BBB-.
NICE Ratings also assigned a
“positive” outlook on the Philippines, which means there is a possibility of
another upgrade within the short term.
“The outlook is positive. It
reflects the improved growth potential backed by institutional reforms and
greater investment in infrastructure,” NICE Ratings said in its latest report
on the Philippines.
NICE Ratings cited the Philippines’
ability to sustain economic growth this year. In the first half, the Philippine
economy grew by 6 percent.
“The stable growth trend is
expected to continue in 2014. Though economic growth decelerated a little bit
to 6 percent in the H1, the slowdown is part of normal economic adjustment
after some economic overheating. Its growth impetus will also be maintained.
Reconstruction or rebuilding
projects to recover damages from the natural disasters are rather likely to
spur the economy and the service and manufacturing industries will continue
driving economic growth together,” it said.
However, NICE Ratings did cite the
manufacturing industry’s resurgence. Manufacturing grew by an average of 7.9
percent from 2010 to 2013, which outpaced the 6.7 percent growth for the
services sector.
“In order to break away from the
private consumption-led growth and pursue a new growth model jointly led by
investment and consumption, the government promoted manufacturing while making
it a priority to enhance public governance and infrastructure,” it said.
NICE Ratings also credited the
Philippines for its strong external liquidity, stable financial markets, and
much improved fiscal situation.
“In the face of the sell-off of
financial assets in emerging markets since May 2013, the Philippines’ financial
market remained relatively stable, thanks to the strong current account
position and abundant liquidity in the financial market,” it said.
NICE Ratings noted the Philippines’
debt management was sound, with outstanding debt falling from a peak of 74.4
percent of GDP in 2004 to 49.2 percent last year.
It also credited the BSP with
properly managing inflation, citing recent adjustments in monetary policy
setting and new regulations to prevent price bubbles in the real estate sector.
“The real estate market overheating
is still under manageable level because housing prices started rising in full
swing as recently as the 2Q 2013 and the central bank has strengthened
monitoring already,” NICE Ratings said.
The last credit-rating action from
NICE Ratings was done in February 2013 when it adjusted its outlook on the
previous rating of BB+ from “stable” to “positive.”
The Philippines has already
received investment grade status from major international ratings firms Fitch
Ratings, Japan Credit Rating Agency, Moody’s Investors Service, R&I, and
Standard & Poor’s.
BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.
and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima welcomed the upgrade by NICE Ratings.
“As far as the BSP is concerned,
the latest investment grade is another acknowledgment of efforts to maintain an
inflation environment and a financial system conducive for business and
supportive of sustainable growth,” Tetangco said.
“This vote of confidence
acknowledges efforts to ensure the country is able to sustain improvements in
the economy over the long haul,” Purisima said.
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