Moody’s upgrades Ireland to A2

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Ireland's long-term issuer rating to A2 from A3.

The senior unsecured bond and program ratings were also upgraded to A2 and provisional A2 from A3 and provisional A3, respectively. The commercial paper rating was upgraded to Prime-1 from Prime-2.

The outlook was changed to stable from positive.

Moody’s said the key drivers for the decision to upgrade Ireland's ratings to A2 are as follows: (a) The economy continues to grow at a faster-than-expected pace. Brexit remains a downside risk to growth, but the broad-based nature of the recovery and the flexibility of the Irish economy provide some degree of resilience; and (b) the improvement in Ireland's fiscal metrics has also continued, with the budget position approaching balance and the public debt ratio continuing its rapid decline. Moody's expects these positive fiscal and debt trends to continue in the coming years.

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