Less than half of eurozone economies could avoid a recession this year and Portugal is one of them, says a study by the rating agency Moody’s. The institution that assesses whether countries can pay what they owe also seems confident in reducing the Portuguese debt and noted this in the same work.
It should be remembered that in early 2011, when Portugal was heading for bankruptcy, Moody’s was the most aggressive agency against the country, being the first to reduce the national debt to a level considered “junk”. That is, Portuguese bonds would have no investment value because they are such risky assets that they can never be recovered by investors.
In contrast to these grueling times, Moody’s is now much more confident in the Portuguese accounts that “the favorable differential between interest rates and growth will lead to a decline in the debt ratio. [produto interno bruto] for 70% of the countries in the Eurozone”.
Moody’s has not scheduled a first official assessment of Portugal’s rating until May 19. The first agency to open the season is DBRS, this Friday.
Source: DN
