Bahrain's creditworthiness escaped a possible downgrade at Fitch Ratings on Wednesday as its political and economic risks have been reduced, the Bloomberg newspaper said on Thursday. The newspaper quoted Fitch as saying it removed the kingdom from its Credit Watch Negative list for borrowers facing a possible downgrade as political unrest has abated. Bahrain's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating was affirmed at BBB, the second-lowest investment grade, and its local-currency issuer default rating at BBB+. “The resolution of the Rating Watch Negative and affirmation of the rating reflects Fitch's view that the near- term risks to the political and economic outlook have abated following the lifting of the state of emergency on 1 June,” in quoted the rating company as saying in an e-mailed statement. Moody's Investors Service lowered Bahrain's credit rating one level in May to Baa1, the third-lowest investment grade, from A3 with a negative outlook. On July 20, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed Bahrain's long- and short-term local and foreign-currency sovereign credit ratings at BBB/A-3 with negative implications and removed the country from CreditWatch negative.
