Rwanda eyes second credit rating ahead of Eurobond

Rwanda hopes to receive a second credit rating by the end of this year as the country prepares to sell its first Eurobond in the next two to three years, Finance Minister John Rwangombwa said on Wednesday. “In the next two or three years we expect to go to the international market and before we do that we should be able to give out our ratings,” he said in a telephone interview. “We are talking to Standard and Poors to have our second rating ready by the end of the year.” Last year Fitch Ratings upgraded Rwanda’s long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to ‘B’ from ‘B-’, praising the growth of the country’s economy. Fitch also affirmed Rwanda’s short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘B’ and upgraded the country ceiling to ‘B’ from ‘B-’. Rwanda’s economic growth would slow to seven percent in 2011 from 7.5 percent a year before, while rising food and fuel costs are expected to push inflation to 7.5 percent by end of this year. Gershenson Dmitry, the resident representative of the IMF in Rwanda said the country’s central bank will control the nation’s money supply to insure that inflation doesn’t go beyond 7.5 percent by December 2011. “Partly as a result of the increase in fuel prices, inflation increased from 0.2 percent in December 2010 to 4 percent in March 2011. The non-food inflation was strongly affected by the increase in transport costs, as a direct result of higher fuel prices,” he said. “Looking forward, inflation for the year 2011 as a whole is projected at 7.5 percent. In other words, the National Bank of Rwanda will control the money supply to ensure that actual inflation in December is close to the 7.5-percent objective.” Agencies

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Rwanda eyes second credit rating ahead of Eurobond