Bangkok--13 Dec--Standard & Poor's Ratings
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today released its "Sovereign Risk Indicators: Medians By Rating Category," which is a new monthly report publishing the medians of forecast economic measures for rated sovereigns by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services rating categories. Statistics provided include economic measures, fiscal indicators, balance-of-payments information, and external balance sheet figures. A "Glossary Of Terms" explains the reported concepts.
This product is meant as a companion to the more in-depth semi-annual "Sovereign Risk Indicators," which have in the past been published in May and November, but will be published in January and July starting in 2007. "Sovereign Risk Indicators" contains individual data for each of 113 rated sovereigns.
"It should be noted that the rating process is highly qualitative as well as quantitative, and thus the statistics for certain sovereigns may diverge from the medians for their rating category," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Moritz Kraemer. "In part, this reflects the fact that the sovereign rating process focuses on the degree to which the confluence of economic policies is appropriate to the politics, institutions, and stage of development of the country, because sovereign ratings are forward-looking and rest heavily on potential political and policy developments," he added.
For information about sovereign rating criteria, please see commentary article "Sovereign Credit Ratings: A Primer," published on RatingsDirect, which reviews the five main areas of Standard & Poor's sovereign rating methodology: political risk, economic prospects, fiscal flexibility, monetary policy, and external debt and liquidity.
The report is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com . If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber, you may purchase a copy of the report by calling (1) 212-438-9823 or sending an e-mail to [email protected] . Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com ; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar, select Find a Rating, then Credit Ratings Search. Alternatively, call one of the following Standard & Poor's numbers: Client Support Europe (44) 20-7176-7176; London Press Office Hotline (44) 20-7176-3605; Paris (33) 1-4420-6708; Frankfurt (49) 69-33-999-225; Stockholm (46) 8-440-5914; or Moscow (7) 495-783-4017.
Media Contact:
David Wargin, New York (212) 438-1579
[email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
Moritz Kraemer, London (44) 20-7176-7114
Marie Cavanaugh, New York (1) 212-438-7343
Richard Sugden, London (44) 20-7176-7124