S&P, 한국 신용등급 '안정적'유지

기획재정부는 17일 국제신용평가사인 스탠더드앤드푸어스(S&P)가 한국의 신용등급을 'A' (안정적)로 유지하기로 결정했다고 밝혔다.

이날 김응탄 S&P 한국 담당 수석 애널리스트는 "한국 경제의 역동성과 건전한 재정 및 대외포지션 등을 전제로 현 등급을 유지한다"고 발표했다.


김 애널리스트는 "지속적인 국제금융시장 유동성 압박으로 최근 한국의 금융기관들이 외화 차입을 상환하는 데 어려움을 겪고 있다"고 지적했다.

그러나 "한국 정부의 시의적절하고 충분한 조치로 은행들의 어려움을 완화할 수 있을 것"이라고 밝혔다.

또 다른 국제 신용평가사인 무디스와 피치사는 한국의 국가신용등급을 투자 적격인 'A2'와 'A+'로 각각 유지하고 있다.


다음은 S&P의 관련 보도자료 원문

Ratings On Republic of Korea Affirmed; Outlook Remains Stable

Singapore, October 17, 2008?Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today affirmed its foreign- and local-currency long-term sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Korea at 'A' and 'A+', respectively. At the same time, we affirmed our foreign- and local-currency short-term credit ratings on Korea at 'A-1'. The outlook on the long-term ratings is stable.

"The sovereign credit ratings on Korea are supported by its dynamic economy, sound fiscal position, and sound external position," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Kim Eng Tan of the Sovereign Ratings group.

In recent months,the Korean financial system has faced intensifying pressures. Due to the ongoing global liquidity squeeze, the nation's banks are facing increasing difficulty inrefinancing their foreign currency requirements. The cost of wholesale funding has been rising, and the duration of the banks' foreign currency borrowing has been declining. Domestic funding conditions have also become more challenging during this period.

We expect stress on the Korean financial system to be prolonged, and wholesale financing conditions are unlikely to normalize soon. The financial performance of Korean banks will likely be negatively affected by weak liquidity in domestic and international financial markets. And as the global slowdown dampens economic growth in Korea, we expect the asset quality of the nations' banks to come under pressure. Derivative transactions conducted with small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) in Korea could represent another source of pressure for asset quality.

"Nevertheless, we anticipate that decisive policy measures will be put in place to ease domestic and foreign liquidity conditions,"added Kim Eng Tan. "We expect the Korean government to have the financial capacity to implement measures of sufficient strength to limit deterioration in the banks’ financial performance."

The stable outlook on the ratings on Korea reflects our expectations that the introduction of timely and appropriate policy measures will alleviate banks’funding pressures. This would prevent a marked deterioration of financial stability in the country despite current pressures. Conversely, failure to limit the damage to financial stability would likely hurt economic performance and the government's financial position. This could prompt us to lower the sovereign ratings.