Standard & Poor’s says outlook stable as Cambodia ratings affirmed
Standard & Poor’s affirmed Thursday its ‘B’ long and short-term sovereign credit ratings for Cambodia, adding that the outlook for the long-term rating remained stable. At the same time, the US rating agency affirmed its ‘axBB-‘ long-term and ‘axB’ short-term ASEAN regional-scale ratings on the country. … “We may raise the rating if we see indications of strengthening political institutions, including greater checks and balances, or if the government pursues policies that raise Cambodia’s healthy medium-term growth prospect even higher. “On the other hand, if Cambodia’s current strengths on the fiscal or external side erode, we may lower the rating. We may also downgrade Cambodia if, contrary to our expectations, the impasse between the CCP and CNRP deteriorates to the point where social stability is threatened,” it said. … Standard and Poor’s added that the continued engagement of international donors also underpinned the ratings. “Together with its modest debt level of an estimated 25.4 percent of GDP (net of deposits, 2013), this has afforded Cambodia a very low interest burden of 2.1 percent of general government revenues,” the agency said. “We estimate Cambodia’s average gross external financing needs for 2013-2016 at 91.7 percent of current account receipts plus useable reserves and its narrow net external debt at 0.6 percent. …
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
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