Fitch affirms Qatar’s AA rating

HONG KONG: Fitch Ratings has affirmed Qatar’s Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at AA with a stable outlook.

The issue ratings on Qatar’s senior unsecured foreign-currency bonds are also affirmed at AA, the country ceiling is affirmed at AA+ and the short-term foreign and local currency IDRs at F1+.

The agency said the AA ratings reflect the large sovereign assets, sufficient to finance more than 20 years of present budget deficits, along with its fiscal adjustment efforts, a large hydrocarbon endowment and one of the world’s highest ratios of GDP per capita. Qatar’s hydrocarbon dependence is a key rating weakness, with oil and gas extraction averaging 50 per cent of GDP and 80 per cent of external receipts and government revenue.