Indonesia hails Fitch's upgrade on sovereign notes

JAKARTA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia hailed the recent Fitch Ratings' upgrade on the nation's sovereign notes rating from BBB- with positive outlook to BBB with stable outlook, saying that it would assure global investors on lower investment risk in the country, an official said here on Thursday.

"It means that our economy is in positive condition, in great momentum (to expand further) and has lower risk," Head of Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) Wimboh Santoso told a press conference in his office here.

In its report issued earlier in the day, Fitch said that its rating upgrade on Indonesia was based on the nation's sound resiliency confronting external shocks, continuously improving itself in addressing the issue with its macroeconomics policies focused to preserve economic stability.

More factors that prompted the international agency to upgrade its rating were Indonesia's positively stable growth at an average of 5.1 percent in the last five years and its tremendous leap of World Bank's (WB) 2018 Ease Of Doing Business (EODB) ranking to 72 from the previous 91.

Government's move to apply more flexible exchange rate policies, expanding forex reserves and monetary policies that are effective to control capital flow, prudent policy to control domestic corporations' foreign debts and assumptions set in the creation of state budget were also added to Fitch's consideration in doing so.

Fitch rating upgrade on Indonesia's sovereign notes came later after the one conducted Standard & Poor's which lifted it up to investment grade in May this year. Enditem