At the start of 2022, the world economies continue recovering from what has been the most severe economic crisis since the end of World War II. Sovereign ratings globally are stabilizing--albeit at lower levels in many cases. The pandemic and its severe impact on governments' balance sheets exacerbated an overall deterioration in global sovereign ratings that had started after the global financial crisis in 2009. As of Dec. 31, 2021, the average sovereign rating was 'BBB', one notch below its level a decade ago.
In our lead article, “Global Sovereign Rating Trends 2022: Despite Stabilization, The Pandemic Threatens the Recovery,” we highlight that while ratings globally are stabilizing, the economic recovery and the expected fiscal consolidation will face risks this year that weigh heavily on our outlook balance, which, though improved from December 2021, still has a negative bias.
In addition, in this publication we include four regional outlooks for the Americas, APAC, developed Europe, and emerging EMEA. In those, we discuss how we expect the evolution of the pandemic, inflation, interest rate hikes, and other idiosyncratic regional risks to shape ratings during 2022.
Finally, this year we are bringing the Global Sovereign Rating Trends on a new and interactive platform that we hope you enjoy. We welcome your feedback on possible enhancements for future years.
Regards,
Roberto H. Sifon Arevalo
Chief Analytical Officer
Sovereign and IPF Ratings
S&P Global Ratings
