Brunner: Austria's AA+ rating confirmed: Outlook improved to "positive"
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's confirms Austria's AA+ rating. For the first time since January 2013, the outlook has improved, changing to "positive".
According to S&P, the reason behind the improvement is that improved economic prospects and the end to support measures for the pandemic, amongst other things, will accelerate budget consolidation. There is the possibility of a ratings improvement to the highest level of AAA, according to the ratings report, if budgetary performance over the next 24 months exceeds the expectations of S&P. S&P's current forecast regarding the debt ratio at the end of 2024 stands at 75.2 % of GDP.
"This is encouraging news. The positive outlook from Standard & Poor's means that the ratings agency sees it highly likely that Austria will regain its AAA rating in the next two years. The positive outlook is thanks to the successful policies of recent years. We are in a position to afford expenditures in the crisis and the support required because Austria has followed a prudent budgetary policy year on year. We have also been praised for our high debt affordability. We must return towards stability. At the same time, the positive outlook tasks us with tackling the challenges and returning to a sustainable budgetary path after the crisis. This is also relevant for developments at EU level: The Austrian example shows the way towards further implementation of the European Stability and Growth Pact. It cannot be the case that European agreements are not observed in the long term," says Finance Minister Magnus Brunner.