Moody’s maintains Cambodia’s sovereign rating at B2 Stable

Global credit rating agency Moody’s has maintained Cambodia’s sovereign rating at B2 Stable, stating in its latest credit opinion released at the end of February that the rating was underpinned by credit strengths, which include strong revenue generation and high debt affordability, robust growth supported by garment exports and tourism, and sizeable foreign direct investment inflows. However, it warned of the dangers of Cambodia’s rapid private-sector credit growth, the high level of dollarization, and very low national income and savings. In Channy, president and group managing director of Acleda Bank, said the government should strive to get a rating of Baa3 or upward in order to further attract investor confidence and to lower lending rates linked to the Kingdom’s international risk profile. Hiroshi Suzuki, CEO of Business Research Institute for Cambodia, said that major factors for Moody’s ratings are the scale of the economy and size of national income. He added that institutional strength was not something Cambodia could easily change and that the rating was appropriate. (Source: Phnom Penh Post)