Stiri	Stiri afaceri	Stiri companii	Evenimente de afaceri

Fitch says IMF Programme supports Romania, but challenges remain

Fitch Ratings agency on Wednesday said that Romania's proposed IMF facility for a 12.95 billion euros, two-year Stand-By Arrangement, backed by a further 7 billion euros in money from the EU and multilateral institutions, should shore up the country's external finances and reduce the risk of a damaging financial crisis, provided the authorities keep to their policy commitments.

Romania is rated Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default (IDR) 'BB+', local currency IDR 'BBB- (BBB minus)', both with Negative Outlooks, and Short-term foreign currency IDR 'B'. The Country Ceiling is 'BBB'.

'Fitch views Romania's proposed IMF programme as supportive for its ratings as it should help to meet the country's sizeable external financing needs and provide a breathing space to rebalance the economy,' said Andrew Colquhoun, Director in Fitch's Sovereigns group. 'Nevertheless Romania faces a challenging economic and financial outlook and it will be vital for the authorities to keep to the attached policy conditions.'

Fitch projects Romania's gross external financing requirement, not including short-term debt, at $27 billion for 2009, or $59 billion including short-term debt, against reserves of $36.4 billion by end-January 2009. Pressure on the external finances amid diminished international investor risk appetite has driven a 21-percent depreciation of the RON since end-August 2008. Currency volatility poses risks for the banking system, as around 50 percent of system loans are denominated in foreign currency.

The impact of financial market turbulence is being reinforced by a slowdown in Romania's key trade and investment partners in the euro zone. Expectations for euro zone 2009 GDP growth have been revised down sharply since Fitch downgraded Romania to 'BB+' in November 2008. Romania's growth slowed to 2.9 percent year-on-year in Q4 2008, from 9.2 percent in Q3 2008; Fitch expects Romania's economy will contract by 4.5 percent in 2009. Slowing growth will directly affect the fiscal finances and make it difficult to narrow the fiscal deficit from 4.8 percent of GDP in 2008.

 

Sursa: http://www.rompress.ro

Tags: fitch currency percent billion romanias romania euro

Articole similare