Fitch affirms Romania’s BBB-/stable sovereign rating

By bne IntelliNews March 10, 2014

International rating agency Fitch has confirmed the BBB/stable rating for Romania’s long-term foreign currency debt. For the local currency debt, the rating was also affirmed at BBB/stable.

The country ceiling has been affirmed at BBB+ and the short-term foreign currency issuer default rating at F3.

Stronger than expected GDP growth and a steeper than expected drop in the country’s external debt could trigger an upgrade, the rating agency comments. On the opposite, fiscal slippage or slowing structural reforms as a result of political instability are seen as threats to the sovereign rating. External economic or political shocks that would erode the country’s buffers are also seen as putting its rating at risk.

Fitch assumes that the government will continue efforts towards attaining its medium-term objective of a structural budget deficit of 1% of GDP. Globally, the rating agency expects i. the unwinding of extraordinary global monetary stimulus to proceed in a broadly orderly fashion and ii. the key macroeconomic imbalances within the currency union to slowly unwound.

Related Articles

EC clears €200mn capital increase at Romanian state-owned CEC Bank

The European Commission has approved Romania’s planned €200mn capital increase for state-owned CEC Bank, allowing the country to proceed with strengthening the lender’s financial position, ... more

Austrian bank Addiko to enter Romanian market with consumer loans first

Addiko Bank, an Austrian financial institution specialising in the consumer and SME sector operating in Central and South-Eastern Europe (CSE), is preparing to launch operations in Romania with the ... more

Moldova’s MAIB announces stronger profit and plans to expand in Romania

Moldova’s Maib bank, which plans to list its shares on the Bucharest Exchange (BVB), has reported an excellent third quarter, with net profit rising by 11% year on year to MDL1.1bn ... more

Dismiss