Credit Ratings by Country

MAKING GRADE Sovereign credit ratings express the ability and willingness of an issuer - in this case, countries - to meet its financial obligations in full and on time. In Standard & Poor's most recent assessment of global credit ratingS, many of the countries that were once considered the strongest lenders are now suffering a negative outlook. So before you throw your life savings into the wrong country's piggy bank, take a look at the assessments below. AAA THE CREDIT RATINGS BY COUNTRY THE RATING SYSTEM The credit ratings used by Standard & Poor's are relative opinions about the creditworthiness of an issuer. The ratings are broken down into alphabetic grades, similar to those you received in grammar school. THE GRADES INVESTMENT GRADE SPECULATIVE GRADE Investment grade has usually referred to bonds and other debt securities that bank and market participants view as suitable for investment. Speculative grade usually refers to issuers who have the ability to repay but face significant uncertainties. Countries that receive a grade "BBB-" or higher are considered to be healthy areas for investment. AAA Highest Rating Extremely strong BB+ Highest Speculative Grade C Bankruptcy petition has been filed AA Very Strong Major uncertainties, Jess BB vulnerable in the near-term D Default on payments More vulnerable to adverse T&C Strong but susceptible to adverse economic conditions B economic conditions According to Standard & Poor's, a T&C assessment is the rating associated with the likelihood of the sovereign restricting nonsovereign access to foreign exchange needed for debt service. For most countries this risk is less than the risk of sovereign default on foreign-currency obligations; thus the T&C rating tends to be higher than the Foreign Currency Rating. Adequate but susceptible to BBB adverse economic conditions CCC Currently vulnerable BBB- Lowest Investment Grade Cc Currently highly vulnerable KEY The outlook tells of the possibility that an entity's credit rating has of changing in the near future BBB Stable: There is no expected rating change in the near future AA FOREIGN ATING FOREIGN CURRENCY AAA RATING FOREIGN CURRENCY BB Negative: The credit rating will be downgraded within two years if internal financial issues are not solved FOREIGN RATING I AAA AAA Negative Watch: There is a 50% chance of a credit rating downgraded in the next 90 days B- OUTLOOK I BBB to AA+ OUTLOOK TOP GDPS AAA AAA TRANSFERE CONVERTIBILITY I BBB- CASSESS Being a top earner does not guarantee a solid credit rating. These selected countries are all in the top 20 of the global GDP. BB I B- to BB+ $14.7 TRILLION $5.9 TRILLION $5.5 TRILLION $3.3 TRILLION $2.6 TRILLION $2.3 TRILLION AAA AA- AA- АЛА AAA AAA NEGATIVE STABLE NEGATIVE STABLE STABLE STABLE AAA ASSESS AA- AAA CASESS AAA AAA AAA CASSSS CASSESS C ASSESS UNITED STATES CHINA JAPAN GERMANY FRANCE UNITED KINGDOM $2.1 TRILLION $2.1 TRILLION $1.6 TRILLION $1.5 TRILLION $1.5 TRILLION NERENCY CURRENCY BBB- A+ AAA BBB- BBB STABLE STABLE STABLE STABLE STABLE BBB+ AAA AAA BBB+ ASESS BBB ASSES BRAZIL ITALY CANADA INDIA RUSSIA SOVEREIGN NATIONS Standard & Poor's Ratings Services currently rates 126 sovereign governments and has established transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessments for each country with a rated sovereign. SPECULATIVE GRADE These countries have been given either the lowest possible investment grade or speculative grade. Their negative outlook makes foreign investors COLOMBIA PORTUGAL TUNISIA GREECE CURENCY CURAENCY CURRENC BBB- BBB- BBB- FOREI STABLE NEGATIVE STABLE NEGATIVE WATCH vulnerable to higher risk and various uncertainties. This BBB+ C ASSESS BBB ES AAA SESSE AAA CASSESS ultimately hurts the country's economy, as the poor rating adversely affects business and trade. $285.5 BILLION $229.3 BILLION $44.3 BILLION $305.4 BILLION HUNGARY CROATIA JORDAN EGYPT BBB- BBB- BB BB NEGATIVE NEGATIVE NEGATIVE NEGATIVE BBB+ BBB- CASSESS BB+ ASSESS $129 BILLION $60.6 BILLION $27.5 BILLION $218.5 BILLION Sources: Sovereign Ratings and Country T&C Assessments Sovereigns Rating List International Monetary Fand 2010 investopedia.com mint.com BATIE