In a nod to reforms, Moody’s raises Egypt credit outlook

Cairo: Egypt’s credit outlook was raised from stable to positive by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited progress in implementing a programme backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bolster economic growth and repair public finances. The country’s long-term rating was kept at B3, six levels below investment grade. The positive outlook signals that a downgrade is currently very “unlikely,” Moody’s said in a statement late on Tuesday. “The substantial progress made by the government in implementing reforms agreed with the IMF has imparted a degree of financial stability not present earlier in the decade,” Moody’s said. That has helped offset debt refinancing risk, which “remains a key credit challenge for the sovereign in an increasingly turbulent global financial environment,” it said.