London - Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook on Ukraine to stable from negative, the agency said in a press release.
At the same time, it affirmed its ‘CCC/C’ long- and short-term
foreign currency sovereign credit ratings and ‘B-/B’ long- and
short-term local currency sovereign credit ratings on Ukraine.
It also affirmed its long-term Ukraine national scale rating at ‘uaBB+’.
“The stable outlook reflects our view that the $17 billion, two-year
International Monetary Fund (IMF) program adopted in April 2014 has
helped stabilize the deteriorating macroeconomic situation in Ukraine.
However, we consider that significant risk attends full disbursement of
funds under the program. These risks include the impact of the conflict
in Eastern Ukraine on the country’s territorial integrity and available
resources, the difficult and unpredictable relationship with Russia, and
the deepening recession,” S&P said.
S&P expects Ukrainian GDP to contract by 7 percent this year and not to
meaningfully recover until 2016 and the general government fiscal
deficit in 2014 will reach 11 percent of GDP, including the state-owned gas
company Naftogaz deficit.
