Japan Credit Rating Agency upgrades Hungary outlook to positive

Budapest (MTI) – Tokyo-based Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) has upgraded the outlook of Hungary’s long-term issuer ratings from stable to positive, the economy ministry said on Thursday.

JCR’s Foreign Currency Long-term Issuer Rating for Hungary is BBB and its Local Currency Long-term Issuer Rating is BBB+.

The outlook for both ratings is changed from stable to positive, JCR said in a news release.

JCR said Hungary’s financial system will improve, citing the conversion of FX mortgages into forint at the beginning of 2015 and the establishment of an asset management company (MARK) to purchase non-performing commercial real estate loans from banks or the National Bank of Hungary (NBH).

It also said that the budget deficit has remained below 3 percent of GDP since 2012 amid a gradual decline of the public debt-GDP ratio.

JCR noted that Hungary’s external debt remains large compared with those of other sovereign governments rated in the BBB range but it shrank to less than 110 percent of GDP at the end of September 2015 from 148 percent at the end of 2009.

As another positive factor the current-account balance ended 2015 with a surplus estimated at more than 5 percent of GDP.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters