Moody’s Maintains Portugal’s Credit Rating

1 September 2020 – In its report “Europe: Tourism Exposure Concentrated in Southern Europe, but Credit Profiles Remain Resilient,” Moody’s included Portugal in a list of the countries most “affected by a prolonged decline in tourism” associated with covid-19, together with Greece, Malta, Spain, Cyprus, Croatia and Italy.

“Among the countries where tourism is of great economic importance, Italy (51%), Spain (50%) and Portugal (42%) have a relatively high percentage of domestic tourists compared to the total, which mitigates the overall risk,” the rating agency added.

Portugal is also highly dependent on air transport as more than 70% of EU tourists arrived by air in 2018. Nevertheless, Moody’s stated that its bias for Portugal is favourable, considering the fiscal and policy adjustments undertaken in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis.

Original Story: Jornal de Negócios

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner