{"id":2000125963,"date":"2026-09-14T16:47:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T14:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000125963"},"modified":"2026-09-14T16:47:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T14:47:21","slug":"fitch-reaffirms-rwandas-b-credit-rating-with-stable-outlook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/fitch-reaffirms-rwandas-b-credit-rating-with-stable-outlook\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitch reaffirms Rwanda\u2019s \u2018B+\u2019 credit rating with stable outlook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The assessment, released on September 11, highlights continued confidence in the country\u2019s economic fundamentals and policy framework despite a challenging global and regional environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch expects Rwanda\u2019s economy to grow by 7.8% in 2026, down from 9.4% in 2025 but still well above the 4.5% median for countries rated \u2018B\u2019. Growth is expected to be supported by continued expansion in agriculture, services and construction, including infrastructure projects such as the Bugesera airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency expects inflation to average 11.7% in 2026, above the National Bank of Rwanda\u2019s 2%-8% target. It noted that the central bank has raised its policy rate by a cumulative 150 basis points to 8.75% since February 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch forecasts Rwanda\u2019s current account deficit to widen to nearly 15% of GDP in 2026, driven by resilient domestic growth, higher imports linked to the Bugesera airport project, and increased fuel and fertilizer costs. The deficit is largely financed through foreign direct investment and official borrowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency estimates Rwanda\u2019s net external debt will reach 63% of GDP in 2026, compared with a 48% median for \u2018B\u2019-rated countries. However, it noted that 87% of Rwanda\u2019s external debt is highly concessional, helping to mitigate the risks associated with the country\u2019s external financing position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On public finances, Fitch expects the fiscal deficit to remain broadly stable at 4.5% of GDP in the fiscal year ending June 2027, compared with 4.4% in FY2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency said tax reforms implemented since FY2025 helped tax receipts exceed the government\u2019s target by 0.6 percentage points of GDP in FY2026. Further gains are expected, although revenue growth could moderate in FY2027 due to the impact of the Iran war, lower grants and weaker non-tax revenues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch projects general government debt to decline in FY2027-FY2028, averaging about 65% of GDP, after peaking at around 74% in FY2025. The decline is expected to be driven mainly by strong nominal GDP growth and, to a lesser extent, spending consolidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency also expects Rwanda to rely more heavily on external borrowing to finance its fiscal deficit, with external financing remaining largely concessional. Multilateral and bilateral partners are projected to account for about 82% of total external financing in FY2027-FY2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch expects regional security risks to remain elevated, with the conflict in eastern DRC continuing to pose risks to Rwanda\u2019s external financing position. However, the agency does not anticipate a sharp escalation in the near term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning welcomed the reaffirmation, saying it reflects continued confidence in Rwanda\u2019s economic fundamentals and policy framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The reaffirmation reflects continued progress in strengthening Rwanda’s macroeconomic foundations while maintaining a focus on sustainable growth, investment, resilience and fiscal sustainability,” the ministry affirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest assessment comes six months after Fitch revised Rwanda\u2019s sovereign outlook to Stable from Negative while retaining the \u2018B+\u2019 rating. At the time, the agency cited improved access to external financing and reduced uncertainty over Rwanda\u2019s funding position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitch Ratings is an American-British credit rating agency and one of the \u201cBig Three\u201d global rating agencies alongside Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fitch Ratings has reaffirmed Rwanda\u2019s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating at \u2018B+\u2019 with a Stable Outlook, citing strong governance indicators, high growth potential and the highly concessional nature of the country\u2019s public debt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000125965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[151,70],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000125963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-editors-choice","tag-main-home-ighlight","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000125965,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/download-10.jpg","alt":"The assessment, released on September 11, also highlighted Rwanda\u2019s record of strong official financial and technical support.","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1200,"height":678,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/download-10.jpg","width":1200,"height":678},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/download-10.jpg","width":1200,"height":678},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/download-10.jpg","width":1200,"height":678},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/download-10.jpg","width":1200,"height":678},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/download-10.jpg","width":1200,"height":678}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000125963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000125963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000125963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000125966,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000125963\/revisions\/2000125966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000125965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000125963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000125963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000125963"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000125963"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000125963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}