Egypt’s Minister of Finance Hany Dimian said the upgrade of Egypt’s rating by Fitch boosts confidence in the local economy and supports the government’s efforts to finance development plans.
Dimian also said this rating will help lure more investments to Egypt in the coming period. This is the first time an agency upgrades its rating for the Egyptian economy after several downgrades over the past years.
The minister expressed confidence in achieving more progress at the social and economic levels in the next period. He stressed the importance of continued implementation of financial and structural reforms to achieve a qualitative leap in the standard of living.
Fitch has raised Egypt’s long-term foreign-currency debt rating to ‘B’, five steps below investment grade, from B-. The agency also maintained its Stable Outlook for the Egyptian economy.
Egypt is rated one level below that by Standard & Poor’s, and two levels lower by Moody’s Investors Service.
Fitch praised the government’s efforts to reduce budget deficits and said the recent slump in commodity prices will generate further savings.

Photo Credit: Arabianeye-Reuters