An additional reason for the decrease in spending by the Philippine government was the recent anti-corruption crackdown by Philippine President Benigno Aquino, which resulted in civil servants delaying a range of projects. This led to 15 percent of planned state spending, about US$1.85 billion, being unused in the third quarter of 2014. However, this was only a short term decrease and, in the long-run, the crackdown on corruption should lead to a more transparent business environment as well as more equitable economic growth.
Benefits are already being reaped from the country’s anti-corruption campaign in the form of credit rating upgrades by major credit rating agencies. Moody’s recently upgraded the government’s foreign currency shelf rating to (P)Baa2. Additional reasons for the upgrade included the Philippines’ ongoing debt reduction and improvements in fiscal management, as well as favorable prospects for strong economic growth and limited vulnerability to common risks such as excessive reliance on an economically slowing China.