Fitch Ratings

21 Jul

Global Sovereign Interest Costs Hit Over $2Trn – Fitch Ratings

Wontumi1Businessdeveloped markets, emerging markets, Fitch Ratings, interest costs

Fitch Ratings has indicated it expects its portfolio of rated sovereigns to pay around $2.3 trillion in interest costs in 2023. This represents a steep rise in interest spending since 2020, with a greater increase of 47% in developed markets (DMs), compared with 40% in emerging markets (EMs). The trend reflects an end to the era of low inflation and, at least for DMs, a period of exceptionally low-interest rates. Aggregate annual government interest payments by Fitch-rated DM sovereigns were fairly steady at around $900 billion to $1 trillion over 2007-2021, even though their median level of government debt/Gross Domestic…

13 Jul

Fitch Affirms African Development Bank At ‘AAA’ With Stable Outlook

Wontumi1BusinessAfDB, Fitch Ratings, IDR

Fitch Ratings has affirmed African Development Bank (AfDB)’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘AAA’ with a Stable Outlook. According to the rating agency, AfDB’s ‘AAA’ rating is driven by the extraordinary support the bank receives from its non-regional shareholders, which we assess at ‘aaa’. “The shareholders’ ‘strong’ propensity to support the bank translates into a zero-notch adjustment to our assessment of the capacity to support (aaa). The rating is also supported by the bank’s Standalone Credit Profile (SCP), reflecting the lower of its assessments of ‘aa’ for solvency and ‘aaa’ for liquidity”, it explained. Fitch placed the US’s ‘AAA’…