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Hungary Gets Rating Reprieve as Fitch Lifts Outlook on Its Debt

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Viktor Orban (Christopher Pike/Photographer: Christopher Pike/B)

(Bloomberg) -- Fitch Ratings moved Hungary to a stable outlook from negative, acknowledging some of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s efforts to reverse the country’s economic slide.

The rating firm kept the country’s long-term issuer default rating at BBB, the second-lowest investment grade score, according to a statement late on Friday.

The step may come as a relief for investors after concern over Hungary’s finances pushed the forint toward two-year lows against the euro. Moody’s Ratings last week cut Hungary’s debt outlook, citing the receding chances for the Orban government to tap funds frozen by the European Union, and some analysts had expected Fitch to follow suit.

“Our forecast also incorporates our view that political considerations will continue to limit Hungary’s full access to EU funds,” Fitch said. It cited “improved coherence between fiscal and monetary policies” and Hungary’s “prudent” monetary easing, while noting that uncertainty remains about the government’s policies in the run-up to a general election in the spring of 2026.

 

 

--With assistance from Marton Kasnyik.

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