S&P affirms Israel

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed the State of Israel's A- long-term foreign currency debt rating, A+ long-term local currency debt rating and A-1 short-term sovereign credit rating.

The outlook is stable.

The agency said the ratings reflect Israel's advanced and export-oriented economy, which has few balance-of-payments pressures.

These strengths are offset, however, by the comparatively weak financial position of the government and the economy's vulnerability to its complex geopolitical environment, S&P said.

The general government deficit is estimated at about 3% of GDP in 2005, comfortably below budgeted targets due to expenditure restraint and good revenue performance, the agency said. The general government debt burden remains among the highest of all rated sovereigns, but is gradually declining to a forecast 98.3% of GDP in 2006 from an estimated 101.6% in 2005.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.