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China`s agency assigns `BB+` local currency and `BB-` foreign currency ratings to Belarus

China’s credit rating agency Dagong on April 26 assigned its long-term local currency and foreign currency ratings of‘BB+’ and ‘BB-‘, respectively, to Belarus with a “stable outlook,” reported the press office of the Belarusian finance ministry.

The agency made the decision following a visit paid by its team to Belarus this past February, according to the report.

Describing Dagong as one of China’s major credit rating agencies, the press office expressed hope that the assignments would help Belarus expand to markets in Southeast Asia.

The Belarusian government contracted Dagong in November 2011 to rate the country, becoming the agency’s first sovereign customer.

Dagong then said that the deal had "broken the monopoly" of Western rating agencies in emerging European countries and demonstrated its growing international clout.

Earlier that year, Belarus’ sovereign credit rating was downgraded by two major agencies, Moody`s Investors Service and Standard & Poor`s (S&P). //BelaPAN