LISBON: Fitch yesterday switched the outlook on Portugal’s BB+ rating from “negative” to “positive”, a month before the eurozone nation exits its international bailout, raising the prospect it may soon rejoin investment-grade ranks.
Fitch said the upgrade to the ratings outlook is justified by Lisbon’s progress in repairing public finances as well as the overall recovery of the economy three years after its EU-IMF bailout. “Portugal is making good progress in reducing its budget deficit,” the ratings agency said in a statement.
The economy took a big step towards emerging from its debt bailout and regaining investor confidence late last month by beating its budget target by a wide margin. Portugal to pull away from recession and overcome public anger at tough austerity measures, turned in a budget overshoot equivalent to 4.9 percent of output last year.
afp
