Fitch downgrades Romania, too

Fitch rating agency has downgraded Romania’s sovereign long-term foreign currency credit rating by two notches to “BB plus”. The outlook is negative and this decision of Fitch excludes Romania from the “investment grade category” as a result of the agency’s concerns about the macroeconomic policy framework and the state’s ability to avoid a severe economic and financial crisis. The previous rating assigned by Fitch to Romania had been “BBB”, which was two notches above “junk” and the rating outlook had been negative, as well. One of the reasons for Fitch’s downgrade is the widening current account deficit, expected to exceed 14% of GDP this year, fuelled by excessive credit growth.