Romania's finance minister Alexandru Nazare continued technical discussions with international rating agencies on July 16, meeting representatives of Moody's in Bucharest as the country seeks to preserve its investment-grade sovereign rating.

"The next couple of weeks are extremely important for maintaining Romania's investment-grade status," Nazare said in a Facebook post after the meeting.

Moody's is expected to review Romania's sovereign rating in early August, about one week after Fitch is due to publish its assessment. All three major rating agencies currently assign Romania the lowest investment-grade rating with a negative outlook.

According to the finance minister, discussions focused primarily on recent budget execution and the government's fiscal consolidation efforts.

"The data remain our strongest argument. They confirm that fiscal adjustment is producing results and that Romania is honouring its commitments. However, this path must be continued with the same consistency," Nazare said.

The minister argued that fiscal consolidation has progressed despite an adverse external environment characterised by geopolitical tensions, pressure on energy prices and elevated financing costs.

At the same time, he acknowledged that domestic political uncertainty remains a significant concern for investors and rating agencies.

"Political instability directly affects confidence and the perception of risk regarding Romania. These are risks that we have been warning about for several months. Budget execution and the results achieved support our arguments, but these vulnerabilities remain and must be managed responsibly," Nazare said.

Romania is under close scrutiny from rating agencies because of its still-large fiscal deficit and the need to implement further consolidation measures under the European Union's Excessive Deficit Procedure.

While recent budget execution has strengthened the government's case for maintaining its investment-grade rating, continued fiscal adjustment and political commitment to structural reforms - particularly during the preparation of the 2027 budget - will be key factors in future rating decisions.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Alexandru Nazare)