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Moody's: L'outlook sul rating Baa1 della Lituania, il terzo grado più basso nella scala IG, è stato revocato a stabile da negativo. L'outlook sul rating Baa3 Lettonia è stato portato a stabile da negativo.
"L'economia lituana si è stabilizzata in modo più rapido di quanto precedentemente previsto, e anche più veloce rispetto agli altri paesi del Baltico", ha detto Kenneth Orchard, analista Moody's. La recessione "apparentemente" si è concluso già nel terzo trimestre dello scorso anno e "questo sviluppo dovrebbe avere un modesto impatto positivo sulla forza finanziaria del governo attraverso il deficit di bilancio leggermente inferiore e un meno rapido aumento del debito."
In Lettonia, "il peggio della recessione è passata, e la ripresa nascente dovrebbe sostenere la forza finanziaria del governo e del settore bancario", ha detto Orchard. "La prospettiva di una svalutazione della moneta è ora altamente improbabile".
Moody's raises outlook for Baltics
31.03.2010, 12:50Estonia’s ratings outlook was raised to stable from negative at Moody’s Investors Service today, prompted by “a clear improvement in the country’s financial and economic prospects since mid-2009, and the likelihood that the country will be admitted to the eurozone in January 2011.”
In a related news, Latvia and Lithuania had the outlooks on their credit ratings raised by Moody’s Investors Service as their economies recover faster than anticipated.
The outlook on Lithuania’s Baa1 rating, the third-lowest investment grade, was lifted to stable from negative, Moody’s said in a statement today. The outlook on Latvia’s Baa3 rating was also raised to stable from negative, it said.
Ratings companies are lifting outlooks for the region on signs of stabilization. Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings raised their outlooks for the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to stable from negative in the past two months on recovery signs and government steps to curb budget deficits.
“The Lithuanian economy has stabilized more quickly than previously anticipated, and also faster than the other Baltic countries,” said Kenneth Orchard, a London-based analyst with Moody’s, in the statement. The recession “apparently” ended as early as the third quarter of last year and “this development is expected to have a modestly positive impact on government financial strength through slightly lower budget deficits and less rapid increase in debt.”
In Latvia “the worst of the recession has passed, and the fledgling recovery should support the government’s financial strength and the banking sector,” Orchard said. “The prospect of a disorderly currency devaluation is now highly unlikely.”
The yield on Lithuania’s 10-year bond maturing in 2020 fell 0.01 percentage points to 6.11 percent. The NASDAQ OMX Riga stock index dropped 1.76 percent to 321.19 at 11:42 a.m. and the Vilnius NASDAQ OMX stock index fell 0.19 percent to 311.73.
The cost of protecting Lithuanian debt with credit-default swaps rose 2.3 basis points to 225.7 yesterday. Latvia’s rose 2.46 basis points to 368.6, according to CMA DataVision.
Latvia turned to a group led by the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund for a 7.5 billion-euro ($10.08 billion) loan in 2008 after taking over its second-biggest bank. The economy contracted 16.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
Latvian Premier Valdis Dombrovskis pushed through the EU’s toughest austerity measures last year, cutting the budget by about 10 percent of gross domestic product. Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius cut budget spending and increased taxes to save about 9 percent of GDP last year.
The Baltic nations, which maintain a fixed-exchange rate for their currencies to the euro, are using deflation and wage cuts to restore competitiveness after a credit-fueled boom led to an economic overheating following the countries’ accession into the EU in 2004.
Lithuanian real wages fell 7.3 percent in 2009 from the previous year, the statistics office said on Jan. 28. The Finance Ministry estimates consumer prices may fall 1 percent this year, after rising 4.2 percent in 2009.
The government’s plans to reduce the deficit below 3 percent of GDP by 2012 “may be overly ambitious,” Moody’s said.
Optimism about an economic recovery in Lithuania is growing after GDP grew for two consecutive quarters from the previous three-month period. The improving economic situation in western European markets is boosting confidence about an export-led recovery.
The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter after rising 1 percent in the previous three months, the statistics office said. In the year, output shrank 12.8 percent, it said.
"L'economia lituana si è stabilizzata in modo più rapido di quanto precedentemente previsto, e anche più veloce rispetto agli altri paesi del Baltico", ha detto Kenneth Orchard, analista Moody's. La recessione "apparentemente" si è concluso già nel terzo trimestre dello scorso anno e "questo sviluppo dovrebbe avere un modesto impatto positivo sulla forza finanziaria del governo attraverso il deficit di bilancio leggermente inferiore e un meno rapido aumento del debito."
In Lettonia, "il peggio della recessione è passata, e la ripresa nascente dovrebbe sostenere la forza finanziaria del governo e del settore bancario", ha detto Orchard. "La prospettiva di una svalutazione della moneta è ora altamente improbabile".
Moody's raises outlook for Baltics
31.03.2010, 12:50Estonia’s ratings outlook was raised to stable from negative at Moody’s Investors Service today, prompted by “a clear improvement in the country’s financial and economic prospects since mid-2009, and the likelihood that the country will be admitted to the eurozone in January 2011.”
In a related news, Latvia and Lithuania had the outlooks on their credit ratings raised by Moody’s Investors Service as their economies recover faster than anticipated.
The outlook on Lithuania’s Baa1 rating, the third-lowest investment grade, was lifted to stable from negative, Moody’s said in a statement today. The outlook on Latvia’s Baa3 rating was also raised to stable from negative, it said.
Ratings companies are lifting outlooks for the region on signs of stabilization. Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings raised their outlooks for the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to stable from negative in the past two months on recovery signs and government steps to curb budget deficits.
“The Lithuanian economy has stabilized more quickly than previously anticipated, and also faster than the other Baltic countries,” said Kenneth Orchard, a London-based analyst with Moody’s, in the statement. The recession “apparently” ended as early as the third quarter of last year and “this development is expected to have a modestly positive impact on government financial strength through slightly lower budget deficits and less rapid increase in debt.”
In Latvia “the worst of the recession has passed, and the fledgling recovery should support the government’s financial strength and the banking sector,” Orchard said. “The prospect of a disorderly currency devaluation is now highly unlikely.”
The yield on Lithuania’s 10-year bond maturing in 2020 fell 0.01 percentage points to 6.11 percent. The NASDAQ OMX Riga stock index dropped 1.76 percent to 321.19 at 11:42 a.m. and the Vilnius NASDAQ OMX stock index fell 0.19 percent to 311.73.
The cost of protecting Lithuanian debt with credit-default swaps rose 2.3 basis points to 225.7 yesterday. Latvia’s rose 2.46 basis points to 368.6, according to CMA DataVision.
Latvia turned to a group led by the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund for a 7.5 billion-euro ($10.08 billion) loan in 2008 after taking over its second-biggest bank. The economy contracted 16.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
Latvian Premier Valdis Dombrovskis pushed through the EU’s toughest austerity measures last year, cutting the budget by about 10 percent of gross domestic product. Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius cut budget spending and increased taxes to save about 9 percent of GDP last year.
The Baltic nations, which maintain a fixed-exchange rate for their currencies to the euro, are using deflation and wage cuts to restore competitiveness after a credit-fueled boom led to an economic overheating following the countries’ accession into the EU in 2004.
Lithuanian real wages fell 7.3 percent in 2009 from the previous year, the statistics office said on Jan. 28. The Finance Ministry estimates consumer prices may fall 1 percent this year, after rising 4.2 percent in 2009.
The government’s plans to reduce the deficit below 3 percent of GDP by 2012 “may be overly ambitious,” Moody’s said.
Optimism about an economic recovery in Lithuania is growing after GDP grew for two consecutive quarters from the previous three-month period. The improving economic situation in western European markets is boosting confidence about an export-led recovery.
The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter after rising 1 percent in the previous three months, the statistics office said. In the year, output shrank 12.8 percent, it said.