Dallari: Investment-grade rating major recognition, milestone for Serbia

BELGRADE - For Serbia, whose market economy is still developing, obtaining investment-grade rating is a major milestone and a recognition of its progress in fiscal discipline, its stable macroeconomic policy and improvement of its institutional framework, European Investment Bank (EIB) economist Pietro Dallari has told the Belgrade weekly NIN.

"One of the key advantages of investment-grade rating is increased attractiveness of government securities to institutional investors, especially those with a mandate to invest only in investment-grade assets," he said.

Investment-grade rating means a government can take loans at lower interest rates, with demand for its bonds growing among foreign and local investors and capital inflow spurred on, resulting in better liquidity in secondary markets, Dallari said.

Investment-grade rating shows that a country has a relatively low risk of non-performance of its debt obligations, he explained.