merrion street

Finance Minister Michael Noonan today welcomed the announcement by Moody’s Investors Service to upgrade Ireland’s credit rating to Baa3 and to change the outlook to positive. Commenting on the announcement Minister Noonan stated:

The decision by Moody’s to upgrade Ireland’s credit rating reflects the significant progress that has been made in stabilising the public finances, restructuring the banking sector and, most importantly, growing the economy and creating jobs. Ireland is now rated at investment grade by all of the major credit rating agencies, highlighting the major improvement in investor sentiment towards Ireland. The change in the outlook accompanying Ireland’s rating from stable to positive reflects Moody’s expectation of a sustained recovery in the Irish economy and improved debt dynamics.

We successfully exited the EU/IMF programme on the 15th of December and raised €3.75 billion on the financial markets last week at competitive rates. In their decision today, Moody’s cited the exit from the programme on schedule, with improved solvency and restored market access, as a key driver of the upgrade.

Today’s upgrade will have benefits for the economy as a whole by putting downward pressure on the price of credit for companies and organisations in Ireland who are reliant on the financial markets for funding.