The Fitch Ratings Agency has affirmed Azerbaijan’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default rating at “BB+” with negative outlooks, ABC.az reported. The agency said that the issue rating on Azerbaijan’s senior unsecured foreign-currency bond has also been affirmed at ’BB+’. The country ceiling has been affirmed at ’BB+’. The short-term foreign- and local-currency IDRs have been affirmed at ’B’ and the issue rating on Azerbaijan’s senior unsecured short-term local-currency bond has been affirmed at ’B’. Azerbaijan’s ’BB+’ rating balances a strong external balance sheet and low government debt, stemming from previous years of high oil revenues, with a heavy dependence on oil, an underdeveloped policy framework and a weak banking sector.
