Three major world risk assessment (â?ratingâ?) agencie s, Ficht, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S & P), have described Angola’s risk as s essment as â?positiveâ? after conducting their assessments as part of the progr essive opening of the Angolan economy to international markets, sources at the M i nistry of Economic Coordination said in Luanda on Wednesday.
The sources said Fitch gave Angola the rating B+ and the Moody’s attributed B1 ( which is equivalent to B+), both with positive outlook, while S & P also gave th e country the rating B+ with stable outlook.
In comparative terms, the S & P agency gave both Angola and Nigeria the same lev el B+, while Ghana, Cape Verde, Uganda, Mozambique and Kenya are classified in the same level or lower.
Meanwhile, unlike those countries, the positive outlook for Angola, both by Mood y’s and Fitch, is evidence of the existence of a high potential of Angola for a BB categ ory (which is immediately above B+), in a relatively short time frame, should the perspectives for economic and institutional progress of the agencies materialise.
The Angola News Agency (Angop) said this first exercise of sovereign risk rating was an important milestone in deepening integration of the country’s economy in
the international markets as it improved its status in global financial markets a nd the global economy.
The assessment grants the international investors an independent assessment abou t the economic potential of Angola and thus enables access to international loans by t he Government, enterprises and national financial institutions and attracting inves tment to the country.
According to the reports from the agencies, the classification given to Angola r eflects a balanced view of its endowment of natural resources and good prospects
of macroeconomic stability, economic growth and development as well as the need t o strengthen the institutional capacity of the Government, which shows a steady i ncrease in this area.
The agencies also appreciated the steps being taken within the fiscal and moneta ry policies to reduce the economy’s vulnerability to volatile oil prices.
In this regard, the programme agreed between Angola and International Monetary F und (IMF) in late 2009 is considered as a positive factor, which shows the governmen t’s determination to move forward with policies aimed at standardization of mark e ts, maintaining of macroeconomic stability and economic diversification.
The agencies noted that the strong resumption of economic growth in 2010 and in the coming years, will contribute to the success of the measures of the Executiv e and the achievement of higher levels of economic diversification.
