Asean is one of the few regions of the world where the talk is not of downgrades but of upgrades. Mostly, this is about Indonesia, where all three international rating agencies have Indonesia just one notch below investment grade, with a positive outlook; most analysts expect Indonesia to be upgraded by at least one of them by the end of the year (the smart money’s on Fitch), and probably all three within 12 months or so. The Philippines, too, is on the right track, with finance secretary Cesar Purisima on a personal crusade to get a ratings upgrade (the country is BB+ at Fitch, one notch lower elsewhere) in recognition of the undeniably impressive reductions being made to the budget deficit. "As our debt-to-GDP goes down, it creates more fiscal space for additional investment," says Purisima. "When you do that, you get into a more virtuous circle. Our...
