The central bank official said yesterday that Romania could recover its investment grade rating in the spring of 2010, considering that rating agencies might improve the country’s outlook this fall.
“I am expecting a change in perspective, considering that, through a new rating, the one in the fall, the effects of the application of decisions should be felt in the real economy as well, not only on paper,” the Vice Governor told the NewsIn agency.
At present, two of the three large rating agencies - S&P and Fitch – ranked Romania as “junk” with a negative outlook, while Moody’s maintained Romania at its last level – “Baa3” – of the rating category with recommendation for investments, with a stable outlook.
“There are two reasons for concern. The first is that the Romanian authorities might not have the will to fully implement the policies they committed to during talks with the International Monetary Fund, in a year marked by European Parliamentary and Romanian presidential election campaigns. The second is if the European Union’s economy, which includes Romania’s most important trade partners, does not recover as soon as is currently expected,” Andrew Colquhoun, Emerging Europe Sovereigns Director, told Business Standard.
