This month, the financial rating agency Fitch raised Portugal's rating to A+, while maintaining Spain's rating at a lower level, at A. However, another rating agency, Scope, took a different position by raising the Spanish debt classification to A+, placing it above Portugal's.
The rating profile of both economies is considered similar by specialists, which means that both Portugal and Spain are seen as countries with comparable credit risk levels. Despite this similarity in assessment, the Madrid Treasury still manages to finance itself at lower costs, paying lower interest on its debt issuances.
The specialists quoted in the article attempt to explain this apparent contradiction between similar ratings and different financing costs. The difference in interest paid by the two sovereign countries does not depend only on the ratings assigned by the agencies, but also on other market factors that influence investors' perception.
