Page 76 - RusRPTSept20

the 2008 crisis.
International rating agency Fitch has affirmed the long-term sovereign issuer default rating of Russia at BBB, the outlook is Stable, the agency said in a statement on August 7. The short-term issuer default rating was affirmed at F2. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the confirmation underlines stability of Russia’s macroeconomics amid a turbulent external situation. "We deem the confirmation decision of agency Fitch Ratings of the long-term credit rating of Russia on liabilities in foreign currency at BBB with a stable outlook as another sign that the macroeconomic foundation built in Russia maintains stability even in a turbulent external situation," the minister said.
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) rates both Russia’s foreign debt at BBB- with stable outlook and the local debt at BBB.
S&P has also been fairly consistent on Russia’s rating. Its lowest grade was BB+ (negative) awarded in January 2015. The highest was BBB awarded in December 2008.
8.5 Fixed income
Foreign investors spooked by the international crisis were selling Russia’s OFZ in the last months and their share has fallen from a high of 34.9% in March to 29.8% in August.
However, analyst say that the selling is slowing and the Russian treasury bond remains very attractive. The sell off of OFZ has been far milder than the sell offs from several other emerging market bonds.
76 RUSSIA Country Report September 2020 www.intellinews.com