A downgraded outlook from rating agency Fitch highlighting the sovereign’s economic difficulties was predicted by its country-risk score trend. Moody’s is lagging behind, but might respond when it reviews the sovereign in June.

A return to the international capital markets in April is whetting the appetite of yield-hungry investors eager to snap up the $1.5 billion Eurobond likely to herald the first in a series of market offerings. But are the sovereign borrower’s risks being ignored?

The credit implications of resolving failed lender Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA) are not what they seem. The upshot is Austria is not about to suffer the same fate as Cyprus, Iceland or Ireland.