At a scheduled review on Friday, Fitch Ratings affirmed Hungary’s ‘BBB’ investment-grade sovereign rating. Fitch left its negative outlook on the rating unchanged.
“Hungary’s ratings are supported by strong structural indicators relative to ‘BBB’ peers, investment-fuelled economic growth and solid net FDI inflows,” Fitch said. In a statement issued after the rating action, the Economic Development Ministry said the affirmation was “another reassuring sign” following an affirmation of Hungary’s sovereign rating by Standard & Poor’s a week earlier. All of the big rating agencies put Hungary in the investment grade category, it added. Finance Minister Mihály Varga said on Facebook on Saturday that in spite of the ongoing crisis caused by the war, credit rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings had both affirmed Hungary’s investment-grade sovereign rating within the same week. In the video, Varga cited Fitch as projecting high growth for Hungary and that the government will continue to reduce the budget deficit and the public debt and to push down inflation. The minister said Fitch had acknowledged the stability of the country’s banking sector and the growing role of the private sector in debt financing. “The analysis also points out that the country remains an attractive investment destination,” Varga said. “So Hungary closes out the year getting investment grade status from all three rating agencies and being rated two grades higher than at the beginning of the decade.”