Azerbaijan intends to get an investment rating from Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Moody's international rating agencies, Azerbaijan's Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said in an interview with Report.
“This is because drastic positive changes have been taking place in the economy of Azerbaijan in recent years. On the one hand, Azerbaijan's foreign exchange reserves are increasing, while debt obligations are decreasing which leads to an increase in net financial assets. This is undoubtedly a very positive and reliable factor for every investor who wants to invest in Azerbaijani securities and debt,” Sharifov said.
According to the minister, the rating agencies approach Azerbaijan quite sensitively:
“Still, I believe that the rating agencies are quite sensitive to Azerbaijan. In a sense, they show greed. Nevertheless, initially, Fitch Ratings increased the default rating of the long-term foreign currency issuer of Azerbaijan by one level and raised it to the level of investment credit rating. I expect Standard & Poor's and Moody's to follow suit. At the same time, Moody's changed the forecast of the Azerbaijani government's issuer and highly unsecured foreign currency ratings from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’, giving us hope that this will happen sooner. That is, we are quite optimistic that these processes will find their fair solution.”