UPDATES on Philippine economic developments have been presented to debt watchers as the government pursues its bid to secure the country an investment grade credit rating.

The Finance department said that its chief, Sec. Cesar V. Purisima, met with representatives of Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service in London yesterday to reiterate the case for an upgrade.

"I met with them to continue our dialogue on the strength and resiliency of the Philippine economy, as well as to discuss our view that the Philippines continues to be underrated," Mr. Purisima was quoted as saying in a statement.

"The market has already recognized the Philippines’ resilience and the strength of our credit standing and is rating us as investment grade," he added.

The Finance chief noted that the country secured interest rates of only 5% for its $1.5-billion 25-year global bond offering last month.

"In fact, our bond issuance in January marked the lowest USD coupon ever achieved by an Asian sovereign for a bond with a tenor greater than ten years," he said.

Mr. Purisima is in Europe for a week-long roadshow focused on the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program.