Central European Daily

The forint, supported by expectations that Standard & Poor’s might upgrade Hungary’s rating, reached its eight-week high at 310.30 EUR/HUF last Friday. Nevertheless the agency finally decided to affirm the rating for the country´s longterm foreign currency debt at BB with stable outlook, maintaining it slightly below ratings granted by its peers. According to the accompanying S&P statement, Hungary´s economy has improved and a decent 3% growth has been projected for 2015. The S&P acknowledged that Hungary had rebounded from depressed consumption and investment, at the same time, though, the agency stressed, that the country still maintained a large public sector, political uncertainty and weaknesses in its banking sector, which posed risks for future growth.