Ukraine’s sovereign rating outlook revised to stable from negative by Moody’s

Yesterday Moody’s revised Ukraine’s sovereign rating outlook to Stable from Negative, affirming the country’s B2 rating. The agency noted the new IMF USD 15.1 bln stand-by agreement and successful USD 2 bln sovereign Eurobond placement in September among the factors driving the revision. On top of that, “BoP adjustment” (specifically, further narrowing of the current account deficit to approximately 1% if GDP and a Financial Account surplus of 5% of GDP in 2010F– Concorde Capital estimates) and “resumption of economic growth” (+4.3% in 2010F– Concorde Capital estimates) also contributed to the Agency’s positive action. Moody’s was the last among the top three rating agencies to revise Ukraine’s sovereign rating/outlook this year, putting it in line with that of Fitch (B, Stable) and one notch below that of S&P (B+, Stable). Earlier during 2010, S&P upgraded Ukraine’s rating from CCC+ to B+ (Outlook: Stable) in three stages, while Fitch revised outlook from B- to B.