World’s Highest Jump
It has been found that South Korea made the highest jump in sovereign ratings among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over the past decade.
The three global major credit appraisers -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody’s), Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Fitch Ratings (Fitch) -- rank South Korea's sovereign credit rating 14th among the 35 OECD member countries, according to the Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF) on November 8.
Ten years ago, Moody’s awarded South Korea 28th place while S&P and Fitch rated the nation 24th.
Currently, Moody's rates South Korea's sovereign rating "Aa2" and S&P gives the nation an "AA" rating, both of which are 3rd highest in the their ranking. Fitch gives Seoul an "AA-" rating, which are 4th in its ranking,
For the last decade, Moody’s and S&P each raised the South Korea’s national credit rating by three notches and Fitch did it by one spot. South Korea is the only country among OECD nations that has gained three step-ups in the ratings from Moody's and S&P for the period.
South Korea's sovereign credits rated by the three global appraisers are 3 notches higher than those of Japan. Moody's and S&P are giving Seoul two spots higher ratings than those for China while Fitch rates South Korea one notch higher than China. Moody’s and S&P also rates South Korea’s sovereign credit one notch higher than that for Taiwan.
In particular, it is a big change, considering the sovereign credit rating of Japan was higher by five notches than that of South Korea 10 years ago.
South Korea's sharp increase in credit ratings is attributable to its strong fiscal health and economic growth rates maintaining the 2-3 percent range over the decade, explained the KCIF.