Blow as Fitch fails to upgrade credit rating

The credit ratings agency Fitch has retained the BBB+ rating for Ireland while also maintaining a stable outlook.

In a blow to the Government’s hopes of making sovereign debt more attractive to foreign investors, Fitch said it does not anticipate that rating will change over the medium term.

Last month Moody’s upgraded Ireland from junk status to investment grade. This enabled many institutional investors to buy Irish debt. Some pension funds and other type of investment funds are prohibited from buying debt with a sub-investment grade.