NTMA welcomes Moody’s upgrade of Ireland’s sovereign debt rating to Aa3
- Second upgrade from Moody’s in less than a year
- New rating returns Ireland to Moody’s AA category for first time since 2010
- Ireland is now rated in AA category by all major ratings agencies
21 April 2023 - The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) welcomes Moody’s upgrade of Ireland's sovereign credit rating to Aa3 with a stable outlook.
This is the second ratings upgrade from Moody’s in less than a year (previous upgrade to A1 in May 2022). The new rating returns Ireland to the Moody’s AA category for the first time since 2010.
Moody's also maintained Ireland’s short-term rating at the highest level of P-1.
In making its decision, Moody’s cited the significant improvement in Ireland’s key fiscal and debt metrics and its expectation that this improvement will prove resilient to potential shocks. Moody’s expects Ireland’s economy to continue to grow at a solid pace and that fiscal metrics will continue to improve and remain robust.
Dave McEvoy, NTMA Director of Funding and Debt Management, said:
“This upgrade is a positive development. It reflects the ongoing strength and resilience of the Irish economy as well as the significant improvements in the public finances, as evidenced by fiscal surpluses and improving debt metrics.
It is also consistent with the recent performance of Irish government bonds, relative to our peers, which confirms Ireland’s place amongst semi-core European sovereign issuers.
The upgrade returns Ireland to the AA category with Moody’s for the first time since 2010 and means Ireland is now rated in the AA category with all the major global ratings agencies”.