“The agency considers there to be a risk of moderate fiscal slippage, not least with parliamentary elections scheduled for November 2012,” the report noted.
Fitch said Romanian authorities will have to implement further fiscal and economic measures to reach its budget deficit target of 3% of the gross domestic product in 2012, but estimated the actual chances for that to happen are rather slim, because of the elections.
“Further tightening measures seem less likely because 2012 is an election year and the government has to start repaying cut bonuses to civil servants following a final court decision,” the ratings agency said.
According to Fitch’s estimate, further measures of about 1% of the GDP may be needed for Romania to achieve its budget gap target next year.
In July, Fitch upgraded Romania’s sovereign rating to “BBB-“, the lowest investment grade category, citing the country’s progress in recovering from the financial crisis. The outlook is stable.
The eastern European country is ranked similarly by Moody’s, which has the country in the “Baa3” category, again with stable outlook.
However, Romania is still rated “BB+” at Standard & Poor’s, the highest junk grade, with a negative outlook.