Fitch affirms Poland at 'A-'; outlook stable
Rating Agency Fitch has affirmed Poland's long-term foreign-currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A-' with a stable outlook, the agency said in a release.
"Poland's rating is supported by a large, diversified and resilient economy, a record of fairly sound macroeconomic policies anchored by EU membership, solid external finances, and a higher and more stable government revenue base than its peers," it said.
"These are balanced against wider fiscal deficits, lower (albeit rising) income levels and weaker governance indicators," it added.
Fitch pointed out factors that could individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/downgrade which were: failure to consolidate public finances that reduces confidence in the government's ability to stabilise public debt over the medium term at a level close to the peers'. Materially lower medium-term growth prospects, for example, due to an erosion in competitiveness.
The agency also listed factors that could individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/upgrade which were: fiscal consolidation over the medium term leading to a firm decline in the government debt/GDP ratio, significant improvement in governability, reflecting a sustained easing of political polarisation or improvements in the policy framework and rule of law and sustained higher GDP growth, leading to faster income convergence towards 'A' category median, supported by policies that do not lead to macroeconomic, fiscal or external imbalances.
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