SOFIA (Bulgaria), February 10 (SeNews) - Moody's Investors Service said that it has completed a periodic review of Bulgaria's ratings, reassessing their appropriateness in the context of the relevant methodology, recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers.
The review did not involve a rating committee, so the publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future, Moody's Investors Service said in a statement on Friday.
Moody's Investors Service also said in its statement:
"Bulgaria (issuer rating Baa2) reflects a "baa3" economic strength, balancing the relatively low size of the economy and lower wealth per capita (vs the EU average) and the clear improvement trend of the country's ranking in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index; "baa2" institutions and governance strength, capturing still weaker than peers results in terms of Government effectiveness, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption although the EU accession provides an important anchor; "a1" fiscal strength, mirroring healthy public finances (fiscal surplus, public debt approaching 20% of GDP) and a clear commitment to the stability of the currency board arrangement in order to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) in 2020; and "ba" susceptibility to event risk assessment, driven by the country's banking system risks although recent developments point to higher liquidity and a stronger capitalization.
This document summarizes Moody's view as of the publication date and will not be updated until the next periodic review announcement, which will incorporate material changes in credit circumstances (if any) during the intervening period."