E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Romania currency lowered to junk status
[Iran Press TV] Standard & Poor's rating agency has lowered the rating of Romania's currency to junk status.

The agency cut the economy's long and short term local currency rating one level to BB+, one notch below investment grade after European markets closed on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Romania suffers from high external debt, and the dominance of Greek and Austrian banks in its finance sector has put its economy at risk because of "the high level of euroization of the economy," a statement from the agency said.

"Romania is generally seen as an improving credit story given the International Monetary Fund program remains on track," said Tim Ash, the chief emerging markets strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland in London.

"This might mark rating agencies taking a more aggressive/cautious line overall with Emerging Europe [a large British investment trust dedicated to investments in emerging countries in Europe] given the concern over European bank de-leveraging," he added.

Posted by: Fred 2011-12-01
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=334384