Fitch cuts Hungary rating outlook to negative

Fitch ratings agency said Friday it had downgraded its rating outlook on Hungary to 'Negative' from 'Stable' due to pressures on external demand and financing problems. Fitch said it reaffirmed its main rating for Hungary at "BBB-". "The revision ... reflects a sharp deterioration in the external growth and financing environment facing Hungary's small, open and relatively heavily indebted economy," Fitch said in a statement. "Moreover, various fiscal policy measures and the scheme to allow the repayment of household foreign currency mortgages at below market exchange rates have dented foreign investor confidence, on which medium-term growth prospects depend," it said. The Hungarian forint came under further pressure this week, dropping to its lowest rate in two-and-a-half years against the euro after another bond sale fell flat because of a buyers' strike as investors judge the risks too high. Hungary is currently graded one notch above junk status at the world's three main credit rating agencies and is up for review by Standard and Poor's and Moody's, both of which analysts expect will downgrade the country further. Investors have been fleeing Hungary due the economic policies pursued by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, foreign analysts say. On Tuesday, the European Central Bank warned that a scheme aimed at helping Hungarian borrowers struggling to repay foreign-currency-denominated loans posed a potential threat to banks in the region. The government has also levied extraordinary taxes on various sectors to fill budget holes caused by falling domestic consumption and effectively nationalised 11 billion euros in assets held by private pension funds. Fitch said Friday that "Hungary is particularly exposed to any deterioration in the economic and financial conditions in the eurozone," citing its open economy, mainly Western European-owned banking sector, and relatively high levels of public and external debt.