S&P Lowers Nigeria's Rating On Rising External Vulnerabilities

(RTTNews) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered the sovereign rating of Nigeria citing rising external vulnerability.

The agency on Friday cut the long-term ratings on the Federal Republic of Nigeria to 'B+' from 'BB-' and removed the ratings from CreditWatch.

S&P assessed that the decline in oil prices in the past few months has significantly affected the external position of the economy.

According to S&P, the 2010-2014 surplus on the current account will turn to an average deficit of 1.8 percent of GDP in 2015-2018.

Further, the S&P observed that political risks are significant as the general elections approach. The tightly contested general elections may pose risks to Nigeria's external position and the implementation of the government's ambitious fiscal consolidation plans, the agency said.

The stable outlook indicates the view that the non-oil economy will continue to support GDP growth and that external and fiscal balances will not increase significantly.