Ethiopia receives first credit ratings

Standard and Poor Ethiopia

NAIROBI May 9 (Reuters) – Ethiopia received its first credit ratings on Friday, with Fitch assigning the Horn of Africa nation a long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Debt Rating (IDR) of ‘B’ with a stable outlook.

Standard & Poor’s assigned Ethiopia ‘B/B’ foreign and local currency ratings and also said the outlook for Africa’s second most populous country was stable.

Fitch said that despite strong economic growth averaging 10.9 percent over the past five years, outperforming regional peers, the rating was constrained by weak per capita income.