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Fitch Cuts Armenia Rating, Warns Of Major GDP Fall

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  • Fitch Cuts Armenia Rating, Warns Of Major GDP Fall

    FITCH CUTS ARMENIA RATING, WARNS OF MAJOR GDP FALL

    MSN Indonesia
    Agence France-Presse
    8/13/2009 1:58 PM GMT

    Global credit ratings agency Fitch cut Armenia's debt rating by one
    notch on Thursday and warned the ex-Soviet republic is facing one of
    the worst economic contractions worldwide this year.

    The agency said in a statement that it had downgraded Armenia's
    long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings to "BB-"
    from "BB".

    It projected that Armenia's gross domestic product (GDP) would
    contract 15 percent this year, "the third-worst outcome expected for
    any Fitch-rated sovereign."

    Fitch said Armenia's economy was vulnerable due to its dependence
    on external financing and remittances from Russia, which have fallen
    sharply amid a severe downturn there.

    "The severity of the shock has materially weakened Armenia's credit
    fundamentals and medium-term prospects," Andrew Colquhoun, the director
    of Fitch's Sovereigns Group, said in the statement.

    "Unlocking Armenia's economic potential and restoring strong and
    sustained growth necessary to reduce poverty and raise incomes will
    be much harder as a result of the crisis," he said.

    Ratings agencies such as Fitch assess the capacity of a borrower,
    either a state or a company, to repay its debts. A stronger rating
    generally enables a borrower to acquire credit on favourable terms.

    http://news.id.msn.com/business/article.as px?cp-documentid=3527262
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