The untimely upgrade by Moody’s leaves rating agencies behind the curve in assessing country risk.

Corruption levels are worsening across emerging markets and pose a real danger to the sustainability of economic growth, reckon ECR analysts

Corruption and institutional risk constrain ability to revive growth.

Pakistan’s post-election dreams are crashing back to economic reality as a growing debt burden binds the new government’s nation-building bid.

Commodity price shock poses largest threat to Nigerian risk profile.

Improved access to capital markets (ATCM) and bank finance had a positive bearing on country risk scores for much of Africa during the first quarter of 2013. Country risk scores for Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania all rose in Q1.

A comprehensive set of structural reforms are needed to address macroeconomic imbalances, but market players appear quietly confident that Pakistan’s political risk premium will fall post-election, potentially restarting the stalled economic reform agenda.

At junk status, Moody’s rates Slovenia four notches lower than Fitch and S&P. This is one of the most divergent eurozone sovereign credit opinions – and markets continue to treat the sovereign as effectively investment grade.