Downgrades set to fall, says Fitch

THE RECORD cycle of sovereign rating downgrades looks to be over, rating agency Fitch said yesterday, predicting that there would be as many upgrades as downgrades next year. “It’s been a very negative picture, but we now think that cycle is ending,” Fitch’s sovereign group chief operating officer, Tony Stringer, said at a conference hosted by the firm. He said it expected to make about 20 downgrades this year, after a record number of cuts last year. With the ratio between positive and negative outlooks on ratings 1:1, Stringer expected the amount of downgrades to continue to fall.