Moody’s credit ratings by country (2014)

James Ryan Jonas

Earlier this week we posted the sovereign bond ratings of 130 countries, as assessed by credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P). We continue this time with the country ratings as rated by Moody’s, another credit rating firm.

A credit rating measures the credit worthiness of a government or a private corporation. It also evaluates the quality of debt instruments issued by these organizations.

Simply stated, a credit rating is a score that shows the capacity of the borrowing entity to meet its financial obligations to investors and shows the level of risk associated with the bond obligation.

Three of the largest credit rating agencies in the world are Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings — accounting for at least 90% of the total credit rating agency industry. Each has its own set of ratings, although they usually have a counterpart for each other’s ratings.

Click here to learn more about the equivalent ratings of the 3 credit rating firms.

For Moody’s, a sovereign entity or a debt instrument is considered “investment grade” if its credit rating is Baa3 or higher.

Those rated Ba1 and below are considered to be speculative grade, also referred to as “junk” status.

The Philippines is already rated investment grade by Moody’s having been given the Baa3 rating as of October 2013. The Philippines is in the same league as India and Indonesia but rated below ASEAN peers Malaysia (credit rating A3) and Thailand (Baa1).

Moody’s credit ratings by country: Aaa to A3

The following countries are assessed to have High to Highest quality credit ratings. They have Strong to Extremely Strong capacity to meet financial obligations to their creditors or lenders.

CountryRatingOutlookCredit Rating as of
1 AustraliaAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
2 AustriaAaaStableFebruary 13, 2012
3 CanadaAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
4 DenmarkAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
5 FinlandAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
6 GermanyAaaStableSeptember 06, 2013
7 Isle of ManAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
8 LuxembourgAaaWatch negativeJuly 23, 2012
9 NetherlandsAaaStableMarch 07, 2014
10 New ZealandAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
11 NorwayAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
12 SingaporeAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
13 SwedenAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
14  SwitzerlandAaaStableAugust 05, 2011
15 United StatesAaaNegativeAugust 05, 2011
16 FranceAa1NegativeNovember 19, 2012
17 Hong KongAa1PositiveAugust 05, 2011
18 United KingdomAa1StableFebruary 22, 2013
19 BermudaAa2StableAugust 05, 2011
20 KuwaitAa2StableAugust 05, 2011
21 QatarAa2StableAugust 05, 2011
22 United Arab EmiratesAa2StableAugust 05, 2011
23 BelgiumAa3NegativeDecember 16, 2011
24 Cayman IslandsAa3StableAugust 05, 2011
25 ChileAa3StableAugust 05, 2011
26 ChinaAa3StableAugust 05, 2011
27 JapanAa3StableAugust 23, 2011
28 MacaoAa3StableAugust 05, 2011
29 Saudi ArabiaAa3StableAugust 05, 2011
30 South KoreaAa3StableAugust 27, 2012
31 TaiwanAa3StableAugust 05, 2011
32 Czech RepublicA1StableJuly 18, 2012
33 EstoniaA1StableAugust 05, 2011
34 IsraelA1StableAugust 05, 2011
35 MaltaA1StableAugust 05, 2011
36 OmanA1StableAugust 05, 2011
37 SlovakiaA1StableFebruary 13, 2012
38 BotswanaA2NegativeAugust 05, 2011
39 PolandA2StableAugust 05, 2011
40 BahamasA3StableAugust 05, 2011
41 MalaysiaA3StableAugust 05, 2011
42 MexicoA3StableFebruary 05, 2014

Moody’s credit ratings by country: Baa1 to Baa3

The following sovereign states are rated “Medium grade”, with adequate capacity to meet financial obligations, although adverse conditions or changing circumstances could lead to a weakened capacity to meet financial commitments.

CountryRatingOutlookCredit Rating as of
43 BahrainBaa1NegativeAugust 05, 2011
44 LithuaniaBaa1StableAugust 05, 2011
45 RussiaBaa1StableAugust 05, 2011
46 South AfricaBaa1StableAugust 05, 2011
47 ThailandBaa1StableAugust 05, 2011
48 Trinidad and TobagoBaa1StableAugust 05, 2011
49 BrazilBaa2StableAugust 05, 2011
50 BulgariaBaa2StableAugust 05, 2011
51 ItalyBaa2StableFebruary 15, 2013
52 KazakhstanBaa2StableAugust 05, 2011
53 LatviaBaa2PositiveMarch 15, 2013
54 MauritiusBaa2StableAugust 05, 2011
55 PanamaBaa2StableOctober 31, 2012
56 PeruBaa2PositiveAugust 16, 2012
57 SpainBaa2PositiveFebruary 21, 2014
58 AzerbaijanBaa3PositiveApril 19, 2012
59 BarbadosBaa3NegativeAugust 05, 2011
60 ColombiaBaa3PositiveJuly 08, 2013
61 Costa RicaBaa3StableAugust 05, 2011
62 CroatiaBaa3StableAugust 05, 2011
63 IcelandBaa3NegativeAugust 05, 2011
64 IndiaBaa3StableAugust 05, 2011
65 IndonesiaBaa3StableJanuary 18, 2012
66 IrelandBaa3PositiveJanuary 17, 2014
67 PhilippinesBaa3PositiveOctober 03, 2013
68 RomaniaBaa3StableAugust 05, 2011
69 TunisiaBaa3NegativeAugust 05, 2011
70 TurkeyBaa3StableMay 16, 2013
71 UruguayBaa3PositiveJuly 31, 2012

S&P credit ratings by country: Ba1 to Ba3

The countries below are rated “Lower medium grade”, generally less vulnerable but faces major ongoing uncertainties and exposure to adverse conditions which could lead to inadequate capacity to meet financial obligations.

CountryRatingOutlookCredit Rating as of
72 GuatemalaBa1StableAugust 05, 2011
73 HungaryBa1NegativeNovember 24, 2011
74 MoroccoBa1StableAugust 05, 2011
75 SloveniaBa1NegativeApril 30, 2013
76 ArmeniaBa2NegativeNovember 21, 2011
77 El SalvadorBa2StableAugust 05, 2011
78 JordanBa2NegativeAugust 05, 2011
79 PortugalBa2NegativeMay 09, 2014
80 AngolaBa3StableAugust 05, 2011
81 BangladeshBa3StableAugust 05, 2011
82 BoliviaBa3PositiveAugust 05, 2011
83 GeorgiaBa3StableAugust 05, 2011
84 MontenegroBa3StableAugust 05, 2011

S&P credit ratings by country: B1 to B3

These sovereign states are rated “Low grade” and have adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair its capacity or willingness to meet financial commitments.

CountryRatingOutlookCredit Rating as of
85 AlbaniaB1StableAugust 05, 2011
86 Dominican RepublicB1StableAugust 05, 2011
87 FijiB1NegativeAugust 05, 2011
88 LebanonB1StableAugust 05, 2011
89 MongoliaB1StableAugust 05, 2011
90 Papua New GuineaB1StableAugust 05, 2011
91 ParaguayB1StableAugust 05, 2011
92 SenegalB1StableAugust 05, 2011
93 SerbiaB1StableJuly 14, 2013
94 Sri LankaB1PositiveAugust 05, 2011
95 St. Vincent & the GrenadinesB1StableAugust 05, 2011
96 SurinameB1StableAugust 05, 2011
97 VietnamB1NegativeAugust 05, 2011
98 CambodiaB2StableAugust 05, 2011
99 HondurasB2NegativeFebruary 26, 2013
100 VenezuelaB2StableAugust 05, 2011
101 ArgentinaB3StableAugust 05, 2011
102 BelarusB3Watch NegativeAugust 05, 2011
103 BelizeB3StableAugust 05, 2011
104 Bosnia and HerzegovinaB3NegativeApril 03, 2012
105 JamaicaB3StableAugust 05, 2011
106 MoldovaB3StableAugust 05, 2011
107 NicaraguaB3StableAugust 05, 2011

S&P credit ratings by country: Caa

These countries are “Poor quality grade” and are currently vulnerable to non-payment.

CountryRatingOutlookCredit Rating as of
108 CubaCaa1StableAugust 05, 2011
109 EcuadorCaa1StableSeptember 14, 2012
110 EgyptCaa1NegativeMarch 21, 2013
111 PakistanCaa1NegativeJuly 13, 2012
112 UkraineCaa1NegativeSeptember 20, 2013
113 CyprusCaa3PositiveMarch 21, 2014
114 GreeceCaa3StableNovember 29, 2013

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James Ryan Jonas teaches business management, investments, and entrepreneurship at the University of the Philippines (UP). He is also the Executive Director of UP Provident Fund Inc., managing and investing P3.2 Billion ($56.4 Million) worth of retirement funds on behalf of thousands of UP employees.

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