Credit rating agency

U.S.-based credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on May 5 affirmed Turkey's foreign and local currency ratings as outlook remained 'negative'.

The agency affirming the country's foreign currency rating as 'BB/B' and local currency sovereign rating as 'BB+/B', stating that the country's flexible exchange rate regime will enable the economy to adjust to external shocks.

Credit ratings for Russia and Turkey broadly reflect a deterioration in previously supportive credit fundamentals, including their growth potential and, to a lesser extent, fiscal metrics, Moody's Investors Service said in a new peer comparison report on April 27. 

The ratings agency Fitch on April 21 downgraded Italy's long-term debt rating a notch to BBB, one level above the "speculative" grade, citing the country's persistent debt and fiscal problems.

However Fitch said Italy's outlook was stable.

An impasse between the International Monetary Fund and eurozone member states on Greek bailout talks is "credit negative" for Greece, ratings agency Moody's said.

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos was scheduled to meet European officials in Brussels on Friday in an attempt to break a logjam in the bailout talks, state television reported.

Turkey's Central Bank has been oscillating between addressing the country inflation and trying to spur growth but will ultimately have to choose one unless it undertakes major reforms, according to a lecturer at Koç University.

Positive or negative decisions by ratings agencies regarding the economy should not be taken too seriously, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş has said, calling for a smooth process following downgrades both by Fitch and Standard & Poor's on the Turkish economy. 

Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Turkey's sovereign debt to "junk" late on Jan. 27, snuffing out its last remaining investment grade by underlining deepening concerns over the country's political and security developments.

"Political and security developments have undermined economic performance and institutional independence," Fitch said in a statement.

Moody's Corp has agreed to pay nearly $864 million to settle with U.S. federal and state authorities over its ratings of risky mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Jan. 13.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's said on Jan. 11 that Turkey faces a serious foreign exchange rate risk after the lira currency hit a series of record lows, according to Turkey's Bloomberg HT television station.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has retained the sovereign rating of Bulgaria as BB+/B, with a stable perspective, the Finance Ministry has said.