MANILA - The Philippines may achieve an "A" credit rating within the next two years reflecting improving fiscal and economic fundamentals, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monetary Board Member Benjamin Diokno.

Following S&P Global Ratings’ upgraded positive outlook for the Philippines, Diokno underscored that fiscal consolidation is central to achieving the goal of an A rating.

“Maybe in a year or two, we’ll get an upgrade. We used to be a member of an exclusive club called HICs. You know what HICs means? Heavily indebted country. And slowly, we got above investment grade, and hopefully, in a year or two, we’ll get an A rating,” Diokno said.

Diokno said the goal is realistic and achievable without external or political headwinds.

“There are some minor rating agencies already rating us an A. Maybe realistically, in two years' time, we’ll get an A rating if everything goes well. Assuming no external development and maybe even our political situation,” Diokno said.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman added that the administration’s Medium Term Fiscal Framework yielding results is key to the country’s upgrade.

“I think they acknowledge that all the indicators, the targets that we specified are all going to fruition. In terms of infrastructure development, we’ve been very consistent that we will spend 5 to 6 percent of GDP… We still spend for our social infrastructure,” Pangandaman said.

“We’ll just continue to spend, to put the money in right spending, social sector, infrastructure, and we’ll make sure that the budget provided for is being utilized by the agencies,” she added.

The recent development is also expected to boost foreign investor confidence, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“JICA is in a position to encourage more organized FDIs, because we are supporting so many big scale projects like infrastructure, railways, disaster risk reduction. [A] better investment environment is now ready,” JICA Philippines Chief Representative Sakamoto Takema said.