S&P Affirms Egypt’s Ratings at ‘B-/B’

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Friday maintained the credit ratings of the Arab republic of Egypt and also retained its ‘stable’ outlook.

The ratings were affirmed at ‘B-/B’. The agency expects official donors to continue to provide the Egyptian government sufficient foreign currency funds to manage the country’s short-term fiscal and external financing needs.

Although risks to the government’s medium-term credit standing are high, S&P sees no risk of imminent default.

According to S&P, Egypt’s net international reserves will likely stabilize at more than two months of current account payments in 2014-2017. But the agency assessed government finances as weak and the government’s stock of debt as high and expensive.

The ‘stable’ outlook indicates that S&P sees a less than one-in-three probability of a rating action this year.