DJ Chance Of Indonesia Upgrade "Quite Strong" - Moody's Analyst The chance Moody's Investors Service upgrades Indonesia's credit ratings in the near future is "quite strong" as a likely victory by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Wednesday's presidential election could result in push for structural reforms, an analyst at the ratings agency said Wednesday.
"With a positive outlook, we tend to move within the next 12-18 months. In Indonesia's case, it might be quicker," Aninda Mitra, a Moody's vice president and sovereign analyst for Indonesia, told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had a massive lead in Indonesia's elections as voting booths closed around the country, according to an exit poll broadcast on national television, AFP reported. Moody's rates Indonesia's foreign and local currency debt at Ba3. The ratings firm last month revised the outlook on this rating to positive from stable, citing the country's strong economic growth prospects and effective macro-economic policy framework. "The positive outlook captures some of the trends that crystalized, and if the political transition does indeed result in a victory for the incumbent president, we expect the policy framework to be become more strengthened and we expect there will be a push even on the structural reform side," Mitra said. He said the government wasn't able to focus on structural reforms in 2008, which was "an exceptionally challenging year" given several shocks to the economy from overseas.
