Africa

Fitch upgrades Lagos ratings, commends resilience

Published

2 years ago

September 14, 2021

Fitch upgrades Lagos ratings, commends resilience

Fitch Ratings, an Internationally renowned rating agency, has upgraded Lagos State ratings from AA+ (nga) to AAA(nga) for its ability to meet its financial obligations amid COVID-19.

A statement on Monday titled ‘Fitch upgrades Lagos ratings to AAA’attests to its good standing and resilience’, said while communicating the development to the Commissioner for Finance, Dr Rabiu Olowo, Fitch Ratings said the feat was published in the Y2020/2021 rating report.

It stated that the upgrade of the national long-term rating reflected Lagos State’s strength compared with national peers as well as its resilient operating performance during the pandemic.

Fitch in a statement said, “The National Long-Term Rating has been upgraded to ‘AAA(nga)’ from ‘AA+(nga)’ with a Stable Outlook.

“The Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) reflect the state’s weaker risk profile by international standards against Fitch’s expectations of rising but sustainable adjusted debt, coupled with sound debt sustainability driven by internally generated revenue (IGR), as evidenced by its Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) of ‘bb+’.

“The IDRs incorporate the sovereign rating cap. The Stable Outlook on the IDRs mirrors that on the sovereign.”

A congratulatory message signed by the Senior Director, Head Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Andrew Parkinson, said, “I just wanted to say congratulations on the upgrade to AAA (nga).

“This is a fantastic achievement and an endorsement of all the good work going on in your department.”