(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia’s sovereign rating was upgraded by Moody’s Ratings for the first time since the company first assessed the kingdom in 2016.
The ratings company took the kingdom’s creditworthiness up a notch to Aa3, its fourth-highest grade, according to a statement on Friday. The Moody’s rating is now above those of Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings.
“The upgrade reflects our assessment that economic diversification has continued to progress and the momentum will be sustained,” Moody’s said in the statement. “Continued progress will, over time, further reduce Saudi Arabia’s exposure to oil market developments and long-term carbon transition”
Moody’s changed the outlook for Saudi Arabia to stable from positive.
Read: Saudi Arabia’s Transformation Stretches Economy and Petrowealth
The Gulf country has been running consecutive quarterly budget deficits and is forecast to have annual fiscal shortfalls for years to come, according to government figures.
Economic output is now seen growing less than 1% this year, down from a prior forecast of 4.4%, while projections for 2025-2026 have also been significantly scaled back.
However, Moody’s said it expects the private sector GDP outside of the oil and gas industry to continue expanding by about 4% to 5% in the coming years, which is among the highest in the Gulf region.
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