UAE: Sharjah credit rating cut by S&P


Issue 1031 - 09 Feb 2017 | 1 minute read

Standard & Poor’s has cut Sharjah’s long-term credit rating from A to BBB+, citing its rising debt burden and under-performing economy. A combination of higher government spending and a delay in introducing revenue-raising measures has weakened the emirate’s fiscal position. Gross public debt is around 13.4% of GDP and is expected to rise to 18.9% during 2017-20. More than half the debt is in foreign currencies. S&P said “the government’s balance sheet has been able to absorb numerous pressures over recent years, but this has resulted in a material increase in government debt”.

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