Moody's assigns first-time ratings to Albania

Moody's Investors Service announced the first sovereign ratings ever assigned to the Republic of Albania.

A Ba1 country ceiling for foreign-currency bonds and an issuer rating of B1 for the debt obligations of the government of Albania were assigned. The ceiling is based on the B1 government bond rating and Moody's assessment of a low likelihood of a payments moratorium in the event of a government bond default.

Also assigned was a B2 foreign-currency bank deposit ceiling, along with a local-currency country ceiling of A3 and a local-currency bank deposit ceiling of Baa1. The local-currency country ceiling rating is the highest rating possible for any obligor domiciled in the Republic of Albania. Short-term ratings of not-prime were assigned to the government bond ratings, the country ceilings for foreign-currency bonds and deposits and the country ceiling for local-currency deposits.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings reflect the fact that Albania began its transition to a market economy from an isolated, administered economy, Moody's said, and from a very low per capita income level. All existing institutions and economic mechanisms were deemed inappropriate and discarded, the agency said, allowing the country's transition to start from a clean slate.

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