Moody’s Changes China Outlook to Positive From Stable
Moody’s Investors Service changed China’s ratings outlook to “positive” from “stable,” citing the government’s success in steering the nation through the global financial crisis.
The rating action affects the government’s A1 foreign and local currency bond ratings. The ratings company also raised Hong Kong’s outlook to positive from stable.
Record new lending and a stimulus package of spending on roads, power plants and low-cost housing has driven the rebound in the world’s third-biggest economy after exports collapsed. The nation’s foreign-currency reserves swelled to a record $2.273 trillion in September as the recovery attracted more money from abroad.
The rating action also affects China’s A1 country ceilings for foreign and local currency bank deposits, and its A1 ceilings for foreign and local currency bonds, Moody’s said. The ceilings act as a cap on ratings that can be assigned to the domestic or foreign currency obligations of other entities domiciled in the country.
“With net foreign assets equal to 36 percent of GDP -- bolstered by more than $2 trillion in official foreign exchange holdings -- only a handful of highly rated advanced industrial economies, such as Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, have a stronger international investment position than China,” Moody`s said.
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