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Fitch cuts New Zealand’s credit rating
Fitch Ratings on Thursday downgraded New Zealand by one notch, expressing concern about the country’s growing external debt in a volatile global economy. “New Zealand’s high level of net external debt is an outlier among rated peers — a key vulnerability that is likely to persist as the current account deficit is projected to widen again, reflecting a structural savings/investment imbalance,” said Andrew Colquhoun, Fitch’s head of Asia-Pacific Sovereigns. The New Zealand dollar NZDD4 fell to a session low of US$0.7696 after the downgrade. It last traded about 0.5% lower at US$0.7704. “The ratings cut is ... (full story)