S&P says Turkish election has no immediate rating impact

ISTANBUL

Standard & Poor’s said on June 8 the outcome of Turkey’s general election had no immediate impact on its BB+ sovereign credit ratings on the country.

It said in a statement its current negative outlook on Turkey’s ratings reflects its view of the fiscal risks emanating from uncertain growth prospects. It said it could revise the outlook to “stable” if growth continued to rebalance and depended less heavily on external borrowing.

Standard & Poor’s affirmed Turkey’s ‘BB+’ foreign currency sovereign credit rating in May, citing low public debt levels and resilient exports.

However, the U.S.-based agency lowered its long- and short-term local currency credit ratings for Turkey to ‘BBB-’ from ‘BBB,’ saying challenges to the independence of Turkey’s central bank were having a negative effect.