Moody’s raises view of Portugal
Moody’s no longer sees major risks for the Portuguese economy, a senior official said yesterday, after the credit rating agency raised its outlook for the country to “stable”, helping send its bond yields sharply lower. Moody’s is the first of the three big rating agencies to give some positive news to Portugal after its political crisis in the summer, providing a further boost to Lisbon’s efforts to exit its bailout programme next year. The agency raised its outlook from “negative” late on Friday, citing Portugal’s progress in consolidating its finances, a gradually improving economic outlook for the Eurozone member and lessening risk of a debt restructuring.