Determinants of credit ratings of European countries

The purpose of this article is to analyze factors that can influence the credit rating granted to European countries by rating agencies. The article analyzes the literature in this field. Methodology used for credit ratings assessment by individual agencies was analyzed, and then the results were summarized. For the empirical study static panel models were used. Data from the World Bank database and the Thomson Reuters database was taken into consideration. The study covered the period 2002-2012. Dependent variables were used as long- and short-term credit ratings given by Standard & Poors and Moody's Investor Services. The ratings were decomposed linearly for numeric variables. Macroeconomic data was used as dependent variables, among other things, data such as GDP per capita, real GDP growth, inflation, fiscal deficit, balance on the current account, external debt to GDP, foreign exchange reserves.