S&P Affirms Ratings On Denmark, Lithuania

(RTTNews) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed sovereign ratings on Denmark and Lithuania on Friday.

The rating agency retained its 'AAA' rating on Denmark citing its mature political and institutional frameworks that promoted fiscal discipline and a moderate debt burden.

S&P expects the Danish government to continue to consolidate its fiscal position in 2015. Further, the current account is set to remain in surplus reflecting strong services exports and strong net income.

The outlook on Denmark ratings indicate the expectations that the key economic, fiscal, external and monetary credit measures would withstand most foreseeable shocks, S&P said.

The agency also maintained Lithuania's credit rating at 'A-'. Lithuania's monetary policy flexibility will improve and external risks will reduce when it enters the Eurozone, and its fiscal position will continue to strengthen over 2014-2017, S&P noted. Lithuania is set to join the Eurozone in January 2015.

But the agency said Lithuania faces a number of risks. The growth outlook for 2014 was lowered to 2.5 percent and to expand by 3.4 percent on average over 2015-2017.

The stable outlook reflects the assessment that Lithuania's growth will remain sustainable, and the government will stay committed to fiscal discipline.