ZAGREB, 14 July 2022 - Fitch Ratings on Wednesday upgraded Croatia's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating to 'BBB+ from 'BBB', with a stable outlook, after the European Council's Economic and Financial Affairs Council approved on 12 July Croatia's application to join the euro on 1 January 2023.

The next scheduled review date for Fitch's sovereign rating on Croatia will be 28 October "but Fitch believes that developments in the country warrant such a deviation from the calendar."

"Fitch believes that euro adoption is positive for the rating, as it would provide the sovereign with reserve-currency status, reduce transaction costs and limit exchange-rate risk to corporate and household balance sheets," the agency said.

Croatia joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERMII) in July 2020 and "has fulfilled all convergence and reform criteria within the shortest possible timeframe."

According to Fitch, seven EU member states have a lower rating than Croatia - Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

PM: New upgrade direct consequence of eurozone membership

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Twitter the credit rating upgrade "is a direct consequence of membership of the eurozone, which brings Croatia greater security in the crisis."

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ZAGREB, 13 Nov, 2021 - The credit rating is important for the price of borrowing for the state, businesses and citizens as its upgrade lowers the risk premium, which has a favourable effect on the price of capital, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić told Hina on Saturday.

The Fitch Ratings agency yesterday upgraded Croatia's rating to BBB, the best in Croatia's history, with a positive outlook.

Marić said the rating was first of all closely related to debt price and the capital price for the state and, directly or indirectly, for the interest paid by businesses and citizens.

The Fitch rating has a positive effect on those processes, he said, but added that the upgrade should be viewed in continuity, recalling that until not so long ago the state paid a considerable amount for interest.

In 2015, the budgetary expenditure for interest was HRK 12 billion, which at that time was almost the entire budget of the education ministry, whereas now that expenditure is HRK 4.5 billion lower.

"Interest used to be 5-6% and now it is about 1% on the ten-year bond," said Marić, adding that the credit rating assessment was important both in times of low and in times of higher interest rates on capital markets.

"We are talking about reference interest rates," he said, adding that the increased money offer in recent years led to a considerable drop in reference rates, but that the total interest paid by citizens, businesses and the state was a sum of the reference rate and the rate related to a specific country and to the risk premium.

"That's where the rating strikes because Croatia can't influence the trend of reference interest rates, but it can the risk premium it pays."

Marić said Croatia had a stable growth, public finances in order, a clear prospect of entering the euro area, and political stability.

"Those are all elements which have an effect on rating improvement, which is then reflected in a better perception and reputation of a country like Croatia in the financial world, and in the end comes the effect on the risk premium," he said. That is important both when reference interests are low and when they are high, he added.

The investment rating is very important, not just for debt and capital prices but also for capital availability, Marić said.

"The moment you are in the investment zone, you are interesting to many more good investors who can invest in securities," he said, adding that international investors had restrictions and were often not allowed to invest in a country below the investment credit rating.

"That's why it's very good that that has changed for Croatia in terms of Fitch and Standard & Poor's," Marić said, adding that it was also important that Fitch had a positive outlook on Croatia. "That sort of indicates the direction the rating could take."

He praised the media focus on the credit rating, saying that it was good that people became aware of how important it was to know how to manage public money well.

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ZAGREB, 13 Nov, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday Croatia's likely entry into the euro area in 2023 was a signal and message to the investment community that the government's economic and fiscal policies were correct, just as in the case of Fitch Ratings, which upgraded Croatia's credit rating.

"The key and anchor of our economic course, as a result of which the European Commission, rating agencies and international financial institutions have increasing confidence in our policy, is accession to the euro area. Further guidance for our entry, which we expect in June and membership in the euro area on 1 January 2023, gives credibility to everything we are doing. People who deal with this matter in greater detail know what it means for the economy and stability. They see this driver of the Croatian economy as the most important one," Plenković told press.

"Croatia has been given the best investment rating in its history. We never had a BBB rating and a positive outlook. This indicates what that agency assesses, following what is going on with our fiscal policy."

A decision on Croatia's euro area entry is expected next June. A positive decision will "automatically signal" to agencies that Croatia will be even more predictable, more stable, and economically and financially even stronger, he said.

Fitch's upgrade and the European Commission's significant revision upwards of Croatia's growth forecast earlier this week are not important just for borrowing on the domestic and foreign financial markets, Plenković said, adding that this kind of "credentials" and legitimacy help SMEs, banks, citizens and the whole system.

Croatia's achieving the highest credit rating in its history, despite a number of negative circumstances, shows that the government knows where it is going and what is good for Croatia, he said.

He said that in the process of achieving its goal to enter the euro area, Croatia found itself in challenging and extremely risky circumstances, including entering the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in July 2020, just five days after a parliamentary election, which he said showed a high level of trust in Croatia.

Another important element is the stability of public finances, he said, recalling that Croatia had a budget surplus before the outbreak of the pandemic and that, had there been no pandemic, Croatia's public debt would have been below 60% of GDP.

Because of the COVID crisis and last year's GDP fall, several steps back were made, but this year already Croatia has returned to the previous public debt reduction course, Plenković said.

He highlighted growths in industrial production, commodity exports, construction and tourism, as well as the abundant EU funds Croatia will have at its disposal in this decade.

He said political stability was very important, as recognised by Fitch, adding that it was the fundamental prerequisite for any economic progress.

Plenković also underlined the importance of COVID vaccination "because it's closely related to the economy and finances."

He went on to say that during his government the relevant agencies have upgraded Croatia's credit rating six times - Fitch three, Standard & Poor's twice and Moody's once.

Asked why Moody's was the only one keeping Croatia's rating in the non-investmen zone, Plenković said every agency had its own approach and that Moody's last rating occurred exactly a year ago. "We hope they will follow what the other agencies are saying."

Fitch yesterday revised its forecast of Croatia's GDP growth this year from 5.5% to 8.9% and the European Commission revised it earlier this week from 5.4% to 8.1%.

Plenković recalled that the Croatian National Bank put the forecast at 8.5%. "If there is verified confirmation of the catchphrase 'let's underpromise and overdeliver', then it was fully confirmed from several competent instances."

He said the Commission's and Fitch's forecasts for this summer's tourist season were above those of the government.

If the season's results are at about 80% of the record year 2019, he said, it means the government and all other actors made a step forward given the pandemic and the related restrictions. This was confirmed by Euronews reports about Croatia as the country with the best tourism results in the Mediterranean, he added.

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