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Country Risk Service Handbook Country Risk Service Handbook The world leader in global business intelligence The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist newspaper. Created in 1946, we have over 70 years’ experience in helping businesses, financial firms and governments to understand how the world is changing and how that creates opportunities to be seized and risks to be managed. Given that many of the issues facing the world have an international (if not global) dimension, The EIU is ideally positioned to be commentator, interpreter and forecaster on the phenomenon of globalisation as it gathers pace and impact. EIU subscription services The world’s leading organisations rely on our subscription services for data, analysis and forecasts to keep them informed about what is happening around the world. We specialise in: • Country Analysis: Access to regular, detailed country-specific economic and political forecasts, as well as assessments of the business and regulatory environments in different markets. • Risk Analysis: Our risk services identify actual and potential threats around the world and help our clients understand the implications for their organisations. • Industry Analysis: Five year forecasts, analysis of key themes and news analysis for six key industries in 60 major economies. These forecasts are based on the latest data and in-depth analysis of industry trends. EIU Consulting EIU Consulting is a bespoke service designed to provide solutions specific to our customers’ needs. We specialise in these key sectors: • Healthcare: Together with our two specialised consultancies, Bazian and Clearstate, The EIU helps healthcare organisations build and maintain successful and sustainable businesses across the healthcare ecosystem. Find out more at: eiu.com/ healthcare • Public Policy: Trusted by the sector’s most influential stakeholders, our global public policy practice provides evidence- based research for policy-makers and stakeholders seeking clear and measurable outcomes. Find out more at: eiu.com/ publicpolicy The Economist Corporate Network The Economist Corporate Network (ECN) is The Economist Group’s advisory service for organisational leaders seeking to better understand the economic and business environments of global markets. Delivering independent, thought-provoking content, ECN provides clients with the knowledge, insight, and interaction that support better-informed strategies and decisions. The Network is part of The Economist Intelligence Unit and is led by experts with in-depth understanding of the geographies and markets they oversee. The Network’s membership-based operations cover Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Through a distinctive blend of interactive conferences, specially designed events, C-suite discussions, member briefings, and high-calibre research, The Economist Corporate Network delivers a range of macro (global, regional, national, and territorial) as well as industry-focused analysis on prevailing conditions and forecast trends. COUNTRY RISK SERVICE HANDBOOK Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Regulation of the Country Risk Service 3 3. Rating frequency and country coverage 3 4. Risk categories and definitions 5 5. Sovereign rating band characteristics 6 6. Rating methodology 6 l Versions of the rating model l Indicators in the standard model l Indicators in the industrialised country model l Indicators in the euro area model l Qualitative and quantitative indicators l Risk to baseline assumptions l Summary risk scores l Adjustment factor l Mapping scores to ratings l Model calibration 7. Rating performance 14 l Discriminatory power l Predictive power l Historical robustness 1 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2020 COUNTRY RISK SERVICE HANDBOOK List of charts and tables Charts Chart 1: Estimated probability of default Chart 2: Distribution of sovereign ratings (Jan 2006-Jul 2020) Tables Table 1: Developed economies and euro area member states included in Country Risk Service Table 2: Emerging economies included in Country Risk Service Table 3: Indicators in the standard model Table 4: Indicators in the industrialised country model Table 5: Indicators in the euro area model Table 6: Indicators affected when the “risk to baseline assumptions” is adjusted Table 7: Ratings and corresponding risk scores Table 8: Months in default distributed by EIU risk scores (January 2006 to July 2020) 2 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2020 COUNTRY RISK SERVICE HANDBOOK Introduction The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Country Risk Service (CRS) publishes comparable and regularly updated country credit risk ratings. The ratings provide a rigorous and independent assessment of the risks facing institutions lending money, financing trade or conducting other types of business that expose them to crossborder credit or financial risk. Regulation of the Country Risk Service The sovereign ratings of the CRS are regulated in accordance with EU Regulation (EC) No. 1060/2009 of September 16th 2009 on credit rating agencies, as amended by Regulation (EU) No. 513/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 11th 2011 and Regulation (EU) No. 462/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 21st 2013 (hereinafter called EU regulations). Rating frequency and country coverage To comply with EU regulations governing unsolicited sovereign ratings, scheduled ratings are issued three times in a calendar year. The annual schedule for CRS rating reviews is published in advance on eiu.com/regulatoryaffairs. Unscheduled ratings (out-of-cycle ratings) may be issued if warranted in the interest of timeliness. The CRS covers 131 economies. Of these, 29 economies, including all euro area member states, are classified as developed economies. The remaining 102 countries are classified as emerging economies. Table 1: Developed economies and euro area member states Australia Greece Norway Austria Ireland Portugal Belgium Italy Slovakia Canada Japan Slovenia Cyprus Latvia Spain Denmark Lithuania Sweden Estonia Luxembourg Switzerland Finland Malta United Kingdom France Netherlands United States Germany New Zealand 3 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2020 COUNTRY RISK SERVICE HANDBOOK Table 2: Emerging economies Albania Honduras Peru Algeria Hong Kong Philippines Angola Hungary Poland Argentina Iceland Qatar Azerbaijan India Romania Bahrain Indonesia Russia Bangladesh Iran Saudi Arabia Belarus Iraq Senegal Bolivia Israel Serbia Bosnia and Hercegovina Jamaica Seychelles Botswana Jordan Sierra Leone Brazil Kazakhstan Singapore Bulgaria Kenya South Africa Cambodia Kuwait South Korea Cameroon Lebanon Sri Lanka Chile Libya Sudan China Malawi Syria Colombia Malaysia Taiwan Congo (Brazzaville) Mauritius Tanzania Congo (Democratic Republic) Mexico Thailand Costa Rica Moldova Trinidad and Tobago Côte d'Ivoire Mongolia Tunisia Croatia Morocco Turkey Cuba Mozambique Turkmenistan Czech Republic Myanmar Uganda Dominican Republic Namibia Ukraine Ecuador Nicaragua United Arab Emirates Egypt Nigeria Uruguay El Salvador North Macedonia Uzbekistan Equatorial Guinea Oman Venezuela Ethiopia Pakistan Vietnam Gabon Panama Yemen Ghana Papua New Guinea Zambia Guatemala Paraguay Zimbabwe 4 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2020 COUNTRY RISK SERVICE HANDBOOK Risk categories and definitions The CRS publishes scores and ratings for six risk categories (sovereign risk, currency risk, banking sector risk, political risk, economic structure risk and country risk). The scores and ratings for these risk categories are informed by a range of variables divided into five sections: politics/institutions; economic policy; economic structure; the economic cycle; and liquidity and financing. Sovereign risk The risk that the sovereign or an entity guaranteed by the sovereign defaults on its debts in the next 12-month period. Sovereign default is defined as a build-up in arrears of principal and/or interest on foreign- and/or local-currency debt owed by a government or a government-guaranteed entity. Currency risk The risk of a depreciation against the reference currency (usually the US dollar, occasionally the euro) of 25% or more in nominal terms over the next 12-month period. Banking sector risk The risk of a systemic crisis whereby bank(s) holding 10% or more of total bank assets become insolvent and unable to discharge their obligations to depositors and/or creditors. A banking crisis is deemed to occur even if governments restore solvency through large bail-outs and/or nationalisation. A run on banks facing a temporary lack of liquidity rather than underlying solvency problems is not deemed to constitute a crisis, provided that public confidence in the banking system is quickly restored. Banking crises are typically associated with payment difficulties in the corporate or household sectors; bursting of asset price bubbles; and currency and/or maturity mismatches. The rating can therefore serve as a proxy for the risk of a systemic crisis in the private sector. Political risk This evaluates a range of political factors relating to political stability and effectiveness that could affect a country’s ability and/or commitment to service its debt obligations and/or cause turbulence in the foreign-exchange market. The political risk rating informs the ratings for sovereign, currency and banking sector risk. Economic structure risk This is derived from a series of macroeconomic variables of a structural rather than a cyclical nature. Consequently, the
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