Moody's Raises Cyprus Outlook to Positive From Stable
19 August 2022 - 10:25PM
Dow Jones News
By Stephen Nakrosis
Moody's Investors Service said Friday it was raising its outlook
on Cyprus to positive from stable and affirming the long-term
foreign-currency and local-currency issuer and the local-currency
senior unsecured ratings at Ba1.
Moody's cited Cyprus' improving debt and fiscal metrics as a
driver of its decision. Moody's said economic recovery last year
saw a reduction of the fiscal deficit by four percentage points, to
1.7% of GDP. "Cyprus' already favorable debt affordability metrics
will likely improve further, helped by a favorable debt structure
and long maturity of the debt," Moody's said.
The agency also said Cyrpus' stronger-than-expected economic
resilience to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the pandemic were
factors affecting its decision.
Moody's said it "expects that Cyprus' public debt burden will
continue to trend down rapidly in the coming years," and it
currently forecasts a debt ratio of around 88% of GDP in 2023.
Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 19, 2022 17:10 ET (21:10 GMT)
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