Romanian president is “revolted” that Standard & Poor’s keeps Romania in the “junk” category

Romanian President Traian Basescu recently said that he is “revolted” that ratings agency Standard & Poor’s still maintains Romania in the “junk” category, meaning a country unsuitable for investments. In his opinion, the agency is “extremely unfair” to Romania, reports local Mediafax. “There are three rating agencies in the world, and two of them, Moody’s and Fitch, gave Romania an investment grade a long time ago, and Moody’s didn’t lower it even during the crisis,” said the President, adding that Standard and Poor’s even today, after Romania has a deficit of under 3 percent and posted an economic growth of 3.5 percent last year, “is maintaining Romania in the junk rating, not recommended for investments”. “I am revolted by this ratings agency’s behaviour and I wanted to say it publicly because it’s an explanation that has to be given to Romanians, as they’ve accepted the sacrifices of macroeconomic readjustment, with wage cuts, VAT increases, and a ratings agency can’t afford to play with the rating of a country that had done its job,” said Basescu, cited by Mediafax. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com