CYPRUS: Nicosia satisfied with confirmation of credit rating by DBRS

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades believes that the confirmation of Cyprus’ credit rating by Canadian rating agency DBRS was a positive development.

DBRS has confirmed Cyprus’s Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency at BBB (low) with a stable trend.

“We reached investment grade a few months ago, this positive rating has been confirmed and it’s obviously a positive development, it satisfies us but does not make us complacent because this effort must continue”, Georgiades said.

"We still have a way to go”, the Minister said, adding that he would be concerned “if those who led us from the first moment to the economic collapse regained a role and influence”.

DBRS said that the BBB (low) ratings “are supported by Cyprus’s solid budget position, its prudent public debt management framework, its Eurozone membership fostering sustainable macroeconomic policies, and its openness to investment encouraging a favourable business environment”.

However, it stressed that risks to financial stability remained relatively high.