Serbia places 76th on investment risk list – Credit rating ripe for raising

The British financial magazine Euromoney has reviewed the risk assessment of Serbia up by two points to close to 44 of 100, which, as they say, is the best result since 2010.

Having advanced by eight positions since the third quarter of 2014, Serbia is now 76th of the 186 countries on the latest list of countries ranked by investment risk and is moving towards the rating of B- to BB+, says the Q2 2017 analysis of Euromoney.

This means that the country's rating is ripe for raising, as Serbia's rating is currently BB-/Ba3, according to the estimate of all three rating agencies.

The credit rating agency S&P, as Euromoney says, has kept the positive outlook for an improvement of Serbia's credit rating, whereas the other two agencies have kept the rating perspective at “stable”.

The London magazine also pointed to the considerable improvement of Serbia's economy, as all five indicators of economic risk have made progress.

The growth of the GDP went up from 0.8% in 2015 to 2.8% in 2016, whereas the International Monetary Fund projects that it will speed up to 3% this year and to 3.5% in 2018.

The IMF recently reported that the budget deficit of Serbia would drop to 1.1% of the GDP in 2017, the lowest level since 2005, and that the public debt was dropping more quickly than expected.

The unemployment is going down, the investment consumption is growing, and the number of NPLs is getting smaller, says the London magazine.

Euromoney Magazine London

IMF Washington D.C.

credit rating agency S&P

Euromoney

International Monetary Fund

credit risk of Serbia

assessment of risk in Serbia

investment risk

gross domestic product of Serbia

GDP of Srbia

credit rating of Serbia