Fitch ratings agency maintains Portugal outlook at BB+

Fitch ratings agency maintained Portugal's outlook at BB+, local media reported on Saturday.

"Fitch expects no major deviation of policy after this year's elections," the ratings agency said in a statement, adding that the country's two main political parties, the Social Democratic Party and the main opposition the Socialist Party, were pro-European.

"Fitch expects growth to increase to 1.5 percent in 2015, driven by rising employment, higher gross disposable income, low interest rates and strengthening confidence indicators, while recovery in the eurozone and euro depreciation should support export performance," the note adds.

Analysts were hoping that Fitch would lift the country's rating back to investment grade which sent yields falling on Friday.

Portugal has returned to growth, with GDP expanding in the fourth quarter at the fastest rate in a year, and the country last year exited its 78-billion-euro (84 billion U.S. dollars) bailout program.

However the country is still struggling to reduce its public debt, which still stands at around 130 percent of GDP. Endit