Two of the three international credit rating firms will visit the Philippines next month to review the sovereign ratings of the country, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.

Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, said the country's economic officials are set to meet with Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) representatives on April 5, while Fitch Ratings, Inc. officials will come on April 20 this year.

Fitch earlier said the Philippines' fiscal deficit woes will likely persist in the current year, but its credit rating is safe for now given the country's strong external payments position.

James McCormack, head of Asia sovereign ratings at Fitch, said the Philippines must put in place meaningful reforms to shore up perennially weak revenues and cut public debt to secure a favorable view from the credit rating firm.

Excluding expected proceeds from asset sales, Fitch said the government's budget shortfall could reach P320 billion in 2010, or 3.8 percent of GDP, higher than the government's projection of a P293-billion-fiscal gap.

Fitch also expects the economy to ride the wave of a global rebound and grow by 3.2 percent this year, within the government's 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent growth target.

Earlier, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services affirmed their ratings on the debts of the Philippines. S&Ps affirmed its ‘BB- senior unsecured debt rating on the Republic of the Philippines (foreign currency BB-/Stable/B; local currency BB+ Stable/B) global bonds maturing in 2020 and 2034, after a proposed reopening of these instruments.