All three credit ratings agencies have given Israel an A+ credit score; the risk-filled environment of the Middle east is one of the main impediments keeping from Israel being rated higher.✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡
Last weekend, one of the big three credit rating agencies, Fitch, raised the state of Israel's credit rating for its foreign currency debt to the level of A+ (with the top rating being AAA). Israel is now rated A+ by all three of the world's largest credit rating agencies: Fitch, Moody's, and Standard and Poor's.
Fitch praised Israel for its stable growth and fairly low national debt. Offsetting that praise, it also mentioned that Israel's Middle East neighborhood is volatile, posing a risk to the country's economy.
Fitch representatives stated that further development of Israel's gas reserves could boost its economy further, and that the state enjoys a high level of funding flexibility.
Analysts at Fitch state that GDP growth in Israel is good, even though it has slowed down in the past few years. Several factors are to blame for the slowdown, including an inefficient workforce, a staggering of world trade, and challenges relating to competition.
Geopolitical factors will, according to Fitch, continue to be a possible challenge for the Israeli economy, and the chances for a peace accord with the Palestinians in the foreseeable future are slim.
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This is a lightly edited version of the original article published by YNet News at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4878319,00.html
