MOSCOW, November 15 (RIA Novosti) – Fitch Ratings has revised the outlooks on the Republic of Ireland’s ratings to stable from negative, while affirming the country’s long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at ‘BBB+’, the international ratings agency reported.
Fitch also affirmed Ireland’s country ceiling at ‘AAA’ and short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘F2’.
“The affirmation and revision of the Outlooks to Stable from Negative reflects Ireland’s continued progress with its fiscal consolidation, external adjustment and economic recovery, as well as the sovereign’s improved financing options,” Fitch said on its website.
“Fitch judges that the risks surrounding the adjustment path have narrowed and become more balanced,” it said.
The agency said the country’s fiscal consolidation “remains on track, broadly in line with the original trajectory of the EU-IMF program, which envisaged a 120% debt/GDP ratio in 2012, peaking in 2013-14 before declining.”
So far, Fitch said, Ireland has met “all the quarterly fiscal targets of the program,” adding that the 2012 deficit is expected to be “close to the target of 8.6 percent of GDP, implying a primary deficit of 4.5 percent.”
European countries’ credit ratings
The agency, however, noted that further adjustment is required to bring the deficit below 3 percent by 2015, which is stipulated by the EU-IMF program.