Moody’s Upgrades Türkiye’s Ratings to B1 on Tight Monetary Policy

A street vendor waits for customers at an underground passage in Istanbul, Türkiye, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A street vendor waits for customers at an underground passage in Istanbul, Türkiye, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Moody’s Upgrades Türkiye’s Ratings to B1 on Tight Monetary Policy

A street vendor waits for customers at an underground passage in Istanbul, Türkiye, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A street vendor waits for customers at an underground passage in Istanbul, Türkiye, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Ratings agency Moody's upgraded Türkiye’s ratings to "B1" from "B3" on Friday, citing improvements in governance and a tighter stance on monetary policy.

Backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and spear-headed by Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, Türkiye has been implementing a tight monetary and fiscal policy since last year to tackle soaring inflation. Annual inflation dipped to below 72% last month from above 75% in May, which is seen as the peak.

Türkiye’s central bank has raised its main rate to 50% from 8.5% since Simsek was appointed last year.

The country's central bank has recently said it will maintain its tight monetary policy stance until a permanent decline in inflation is achieved. In June, the central bank reiterated that disinflation would take hold in the second half of the year.

Last month, the international crime watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), removed Türkiye from its "grey list" of countries that require special scrutiny, in a boost to the country's economic turnaround plan.

Moody's is the first credit ratings agency to announce new ratings for Türkiye following the FATF decision.

Lower current-account deficit and improvement in the central bank's financial position has materially reduced the country's external vulnerability, Moody's said.

"Earlier concerns over rising risks of a full-blown balance of payments crisis - which had triggered successive downgrades to the B3 rating level - have for now dissipated," the agency added in a statement.

The agency also maintained its "positive" outlook on Türkiye, expecting authorities to maintain its tight economic policy stance for longer.



Saudi Aramco Announces Completion of $6 Billion Bond Issuance

FILE PHOTO: The Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at Hyvolution exhibition in Paris, France, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at Hyvolution exhibition in Paris, France, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
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Saudi Aramco Announces Completion of $6 Billion Bond Issuance

FILE PHOTO: The Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at Hyvolution exhibition in Paris, France, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at Hyvolution exhibition in Paris, France, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Saudi Aramco announced on Thursday that it has completed a bond issuance of $6 billion.

The issuance is comprised of three tranches of USD-denominated senior unsecured notes under Aramco’s Global Medium Term Note Program (GMTN), Aramco said in a statement.

According to the statement, the tranches include $2 billion senior notes maturing in 2034 with a coupon rate of 5.250%, $2 billion senior notes maturing in 2054 with a coupon rate of 5.750%, and $2 billion senior notes maturing in 2064 with a coupon rate of 5.875%.

The transaction, said the statement, was priced on July 10, and the notes are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The offering was more than six times oversubscribed, based on the initial targeted size of $5 billion.

The transaction received strong demand from a diverse base of investment-grade focused institutional investors. All three tranches were favorably priced with a negative new issue premium, reflecting Aramco’s strong credit profile.

“We are pleased with the strong interest and level of engagement from investors globally, both existing and new,” said Executive Vice President of Finance & CFO Ziad Al-Murshed.

“Our order book exceeded $33 billion at its peak, reflecting Aramco’s exceptional financial resilience and fortress balance sheet. Achieving a negative issue premium across all tranches is a testament to our unique credit proposition,” he said.

“We have consistently demonstrated our financial discipline while delivering on shareholder value and business growth, and we aim to maintain a strong investment-grade credit rating across business cycles,” Al-Murshed added.