Moody's affirms Norway's Aaa rating, outlook stable

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Moody's said Friday it affirmed Norway's Aaa long-term issuer ratings and Aaa senior unsecured bond ratings, while its outlook remains stable.

The ratings reflect the country's "exceptionally strong" public sector balance sheet and very low risk to debt sustainability, the rating agency said in a statement.

Norway's "extraordinary" fiscal strength is supported by the Government Pension Fund Global, which is one of the largest wealth funds in the world, it added.

The country's "exceptionally large" fiscal buffers and "very strong" institutions provides an effective fiscal and monetary policy response that significantly softens the impact of shocks on its fundamental credit profile, it said.

"Norway's general government debt was 44.3% of GDP in 2023 and Moody's forecasts debt-to-GDP to decrease to 37.8% in 2025," said the statement.

The agency, however, noted that an escalation of the war in Ukraine into a war that directly involves NATO members would also exert downward pressure on Norway's rating.

Ratings, in addition, would come under pressure if macroeconomic, monetary and fiscal frameworks that support Norway's strong credit profile were to weaken significantly, it added.