JCR Assigns BB+ Sovereign Rating to Albania

TIRANA, Dec 24 – JCR Eurasia Rating has assigned a sovereign rating of ‘BB+’ (double B plus) to Albania on the long term scale and ‘B’ (single B) on the short term horizon.
All ratings carry a ‘stable’ outlook”, the rating agency said in a press release.
Moody’s Investors Service assigned Albania the nation’s first-ever sovereign ratings of ‘Ba1′ country ceiling for foreign-currency bonds and an issuer rating of ‘B1′ for the debt obligations of the government on June 2007. Obligations rated Ba are judged to have “questionable credit quality”.
The two ratings are not comparable.
“The Republic of Albania is expected to attain its membership in the European Partnership in the foreseeable future; it has already begun political and economic reforms in order to strengthen its position in this integration process and has exhibited a positive trend in its GDP growth rate over the past 5 years as a result of consistent macroeconomic policies and stable democratic governance”, JCR said.
JCR warned also that Albania’s poor infrastructure, low income level, underdeveloped market institutions and current unemployment rate are the major negative factors restricting ratings. Moreover, overvalued local currency and high trade and current account deficit to GDP ratios may adversely affect the country’s macroeconomic environment in the future”.