OREANDA-NEWS. The German-based European rating agency Scope Ratings (not part of the Big Three of US agencies, but competing with them) raised Russia's long-term credit rating from BBB- to BBB and revised its outlook from “positive” to “stable”, follows from the review received in the Russian media.

The main reasons for Scope's decision are the significant monetary reserves of the Russian state and the country's increased resistance to external risks. A "stable" outlook indicates that, according to Scope, the risks will be balanced in the future 12-18 months.

A similar assessment was previously put to Russia by Fitch. Standard & Poor's assigned a lower rating - at BBB-. S&P took the risk of tougher sanctions more seriously and pointed to "uncertainty about the mechanism of transfer of power in 2024." Since February 2019, Moody's, like S&P, has kept Russia at the lowest investment level (Baa3).

According to the results of 2019, the federal budget surplus of the Russian Federation amounted to 1.8% of the preliminary estimate of GDP, or almost 2 trillion rubles. In the future, Russia will maintain a moderate budget surplus of about 1% of GDP in 2020–2022, given the further increase in funding for national projects, Scope predicts.