Stiri	Stiri afaceri	Stiri companii	Evenimente de afaceri

FinMin: Improved rating will bring more investors

A better rating by the evaluation agency Fitch, which brought Romania back to the category recommended for investments will have a positive effect not only on the price used by Romania for loans, but also on direct foreign investments, the secretary of state in the Ministry of Public Finance, Bogdan Dragoi said.

'The Fitch decision reconfirms credibility and confidence in Romania, to be seen in the price paid for financing. This decision place Romania again on the investment map. Certainly we expect a smaller margin at the next foreign emission because there will be a larger base of investors,' Dragoi told Mediafax.

He added that in the Finance Ministry he explained that many big investors will also have in view investments in instruments issued by Romania after the decision made by Fitch.The financial evaluation agency Fitch improved the rating for long term credits in foreign exchange from BB+ to BBB- with a stable perspective, Romania returning to the category of states recommended for investments.

The rating for long term credits in lei was reviewed from BBB- to BBB, while the country level improved from BBB to BBB+. The rating for short term credits was reviewed from B to F3.

Dragoi says that the rating improvement will reflect at the level of direct foreign investments as many companies have policies similar to financial institutions and would not go to countries with rating below investment grade.

'The rating will also improve with other agencies, considering that Fitch acknowledges for the first time the effects of adjustment measures adopted by Romanian authorities in the last two years<' Dargoi added.

Moody's was the only agency placing Romania at a rating recommended for investments – Baa3, while Standard & Poor's was the only of the three big agencies which evaluated Romania in the category not recommended for investments – BB+.

Fitch demoted Romania in the category of states not recommended for investments at the end of 2008, in the context of the global financial crisis. The agency reviewed then Romania's rating for long term foreign exchange credits to BB+ with negative perspectives, fearing that the state did not have the capacity to avoid a severe crisis.

The improvement reflects Romania's progress in recovering following the effects of the financial crisis, obvious in resuming economic growth, good results in the export area, reducing current account deficit and budget deficit. In general there has been a real improvement of Romania's risk situation, corresponding to a return in the category recommended for investments, said Ed Parker, the head of the Fitch division for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Romania's economic recovery began in the first part of the year, with a 1.6% growth in the first quarter, following one of the longest recessions in EU, Fitch notes. The recovery is backed by solid export increase, while the contraction of domestic demand has also contributed to a correction needed by the current account deficit.

Romania attracted 1.5 billion euro in June from the sale of bonds for 5 years at a profit of 5.29% through the first emission of Medium Term Notes program which has a maximum value of 7 billion euro in the next three years.

Sursa: http://www.actmedia.eu

Tags: rating recommended investments foreign category romania investors fitch improved euro

Articole similare