Serbia’s credit rating increases again
The Serbian Ministry of Finance stated today that Serbia has once more received an increased credit rating.
The statement says that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, one of the most influential international agencies in the assessment of risk in states and companies, has raised its long-term sovereign credit ratings on Serbia to ‘BB-‘ from ‘B+’.
The agency said that the upgrade reflects Serbia’s diminishing political risks, adding that the Serbian government has been given a positive assessment of a feasibility study, that the EU is planning to begin talks on the stabilisation and association agreement in October, that Serbia has reduced its external debt, and that in 2005 it will have a budget surplus.
Serbia got its first credit rating only last November and it has already had success in improving it. A credit rating is a base for working out a country’s credit risk. The improved credit rating enables further gradual reductions in interest rates in Serbia, and creates a safer investment environment, the Ministry’s statement concludes.