Azerbaijan Aims For Investment Rating From S & P And Moody's, Minister Says
(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Azerbaijan plans to achieve an investment rating from
international rating agencies "Standard & Poor's" (S&P) and
"Moody's," according to Finance Minister Samir Sharifov, who spoke
in an interview with "Report," as cited by Azernews.
Sharifov highlighted that significant positive changes have been
occurring in Azerbaijan's Economy in recent years. "On one hand,
Azerbaijan's foreign exchange reserves are increasing, and on the
other, debt obligations are decreasing. As a result, this leads to
an increase in net financial assets. This is undoubtedly a very
positive and reliable factor for every investor who wants to invest
in Azerbaijani securities and debt," he said.
The minister expressed optimism that rating agencies would
recognize these improvements. "The rating agencies show a certain
amount of greed towards Azerbaijan. However, despite this,
initially, Fitch Ratings increased the default rating of
Azerbaijan's long-term foreign currency issuer by one step and
raised it to the level of investment credit rating. I assume that
'Standard & Poor's' and 'Moody's' will take similar steps.
Meanwhile, 'Moody's' international rating agency has changed the
forecast of the Azerbaijani government's issuer and highly
unsecured foreign currency ratings from 'stable' to 'positive,'
giving us hope that this will happen sooner. In other words, we are
quite optimistic that these processes will find their fair
solution," Sharifov added.
Earlier in July, Fitch Ratings raised Azerbaijan's long-term
foreign currency issuer default rating from "BB+" to "BBB-" and
assessed it with a stable outlook. According to Fitch, the upgrade
reflects Azerbaijan's strong external balance sheet, ongoing
current account and fiscal surpluses, reduced foreign exchange
sensitivity, low public debt, and evolving monetary policy.
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