Fitch Affirms Ratings On Greece, The Netherlands; S&P Retains Italy's Rating

(RTTNews) - Fitch maintained the sovereign ratings of Greece, the Netherlands and Latvia and Standard & Poor's affirmed the ratings of Italy and Georgia. Elsewhere, Moody's affirmed Poland's ratings.

Greece

The rating agency maintained the Greece rating at 'CCC'. Fitch expects the Greek government to survive the current liquidity squeeze without running arrears on privately-held bonds, but default is a real possibility, it warned.

Lack of market access, uncertain prospects of timely disbursement from official institutions and tight liquidity conditions in the domestic banking sector are adding extreme pressure on government funding, the agency noted.

Netherlands

Fitch retained coveted 'AAA' rating of the Netherlands. The outlook remains stable. According to Fitch, the strengthening recovery is leading to a gradual reduction of macroeconomic and financial risks.

Citing a benign external environment and a strengthening recovery of domestic demand, economic growth outlook was lifted to 1.7 percent this year and 2016 from 1.2 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Italy

Standard & Poor's left the credit ratings of Italy unchanged at 'BBB-' with stable outlook. The ratings were underpinned by its diversified economy and its relatively strong international investment position. Moreover, the agency observed that the government is gradually implementing major reforms.

Latvia

The sovereign ratings of Latvia was retained at 'A-', with stable outlook. Fitch said the ratings were supported by the strong fiscal position, stable banking sector and the assumption that economic growth will stay resilient against geopolitical risks.

Poland

Moody's Investors Service on Friday affirmed Poland's rating at 'A2/P-1' with stable outlook. The ratings reflect Poland's robust real GDP growth driven by domestic demand and expectations that its elevated general government debt-to-GDP would level off within next two years.

Georgia

S&P affirmed Georgia's sovereign rating at 'BB-'. The agency expects external position of the economy to weaken on the back of lower demand from trading partners. Nonetheless, these developments are likely to be temporary and expects foreign direct investment to continue as a key external financing item.

Africa

S&P upgraded the outlook on Egypt's 'B-' sovereign rating to positive from stable citing stabilizing political landscape, growth supporting reforms as well as continued support from some Gulf states.

Nonetheless, the agency said the ratings remain constrained by wide fiscal deficits, high domestic debt, low income levels and institutional shortcomings.

Elsewhere, Fitch maintained Namibia's rating at 'BBB-' with stable outlook.