International rating agency Fitch Ratings once again affirmed the long-term rating of Azerbaijan in national and foreign currencies at BB+ level and upgraded the outlook from “stable” to “positive”, Azernews reports.
The agency noted that Azerbaijan’s strong fiscal position, low sovereign debt, and large volume of foreign exchange assets accumulated as a result of high oil and gas prices led to the upgrade of the rating outlook.
Having upgraded the outlook on the rating from "stable" to "positive", the agency forecasts a 14.3 percent increase in net sovereign assets of Azerbaijan in 2022-2024 to 77.6 percent of GDP, which is the highest in the rating group.
Moreover, the agency noted that taking into account capital investment in the liberated territories at the rate of 2 percent of GDP, increased social spending in the context of high inflation, updated oil price forecast and expectations that gas prices will remain high for some time, the consolidated budget surplus in 2023 is expected to increase by 1.5 percent to 6.7 percent of GDP.
“The upgrade of Azerbaijan's long-term local and foreign currency rating to investment grade BB+ and the upgrade of the outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’ in the current unstable global economic environment demonstrates the potential for sustainability of the country's economy,” the statement reads.
Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency and is one of the "Big Three credit rating agencies", the other two being Moody's and Standard & Poor's, Azernews reports.
