Fitch upgrades Argentina to ‘CCC’ rating

BUENOS AIRES: Fitch Ratings has upgraded Argentina’s long-term issuer default rating to ‘CCC’ from ‘CC’, indicating increased confidence in the country’s ability to make upcoming foreign-currency bond payments, the rating agency reported on Friday.

The upgraded credit rating shows a gradual improvement in Argentina’s economic outlook after years of fiscal instability, and it could potentially enhance the country’s access to international financial markets.

“Dollar inflows prompted by a successful tax amnesty (programme) have begun to lift international reserves, and should continue to do so as they circulate in the financial system, supporting the sovereign’s access to dollars,” Fitch stated.

Argentina faces significant debt payments of $4.3 billion in both January and July 2025, on top of roughly $2.3 billion in scheduled foreign-exchange bond payments by the central bank and $2.7 billion by provincial governments, Fitch said.

Current international reserves of $30 billion “remain low and insufficient to make these payments”, Fitch said, given that the reverses consist “mostly of a swap with China ($18.3 billion), which is not freely usable, and $5.4 billion in gold that would need to be sold first.”