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Philippines up 10 places in Global Competitive Index  

   The Philippines now ranks 65th in terms of country competitiveness, improving by 10 places from its ranking in the World Competitiveness Report last year.

      The country likewise attained a spot in the upper half of the 144 economies, evaluated by the Switzerland-headquartered World Economic Forum (WEF). The grade is also an improvement of 22 places from its lowest mark in 2009.

      According to the report prepared by WEF, the Philippines achieved remarkable progress on public sector efficiencies.

The report shows that competitiveness of public institutions, now at 94th place, improved by 23 places from the last survey. Trust in politicians, now at 95th place, also improved by 33 places.

     The perception is that corruption, now 108th place, improved by 11 notches and red tape, now at 108th place, improved by up 18 places.

“[Corruption and red tape] are finally being addressed decisively, even though they remain pervasive. The macroeconomic environment also exhibits marked improvement (36th, up 18) and represents one of the strongest aspects of the Philippines’ performance, along with the market size pillar (35th),” the report said.

     The report also cited an improvement in the country’s financial sector efficiency and support of business activity, which is now at 58th place, up by 13 places.

     Various multilateral institutions and credit agencies are pointing out improvements in the Philippine economy due to efficiencies in the public sector and the Aquino government’s commitment to good governance.

Credit watchdog Standard & Poor’s recently upgraded the country’s debt rating to BB+, one notch below investment grade. This means that because of the strong economic fundamentals, the government can avail more loans with lower interest.

     The Philippine economy grew by 5.9% in the second quarter of 2012, outpacing most of the economies in Asia. The gross domestic product growth for the second quarter was way above the Asean preliminary average growth rate of 4.7% and higher than the industry forecast of 5.4%.

     The country’s GDP growth rate in the second quarter was higher was higher than Malaysia’s 5.4%, Thailand’s 4.2%, Vietnam’s 4.4%, and Singapore’s 2%.

Of the countries in Asean only China, with a GDP growth rate of 7%, and oil-rich Indonesia, with a GDP growth rate of 6.4%, were able to outperformed the Philippines in the second quarter.