The international agency Fitch Ratings affirmed Chile's long-term foreign currency credit rating at A-, with a “stable” outlook, after completing its annual review. In the words of the rating agency, this action is “supported by a relatively strong sovereign balance sheet, together with a lower public debt to GDP ratio than its peers”. In addition, the rating agency noted that Chile's performance reflects sound governance indicators and a track record of credible macroeconomic policies.

In terms of institutional strengths, Fitch also highlighted the agreement reached on the proposed Pension Reform, stressing that this measure “could contribute to greater depth in the domestic capital market”.

The Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, valued Fitch's decision: “The ratification of the agency not only highlights the soundness of macroeconomic management but also gives importance to the agreement between the Government and the opposition to move forward on an important issue, such as improving the pensions of Chileans”. 

Some time ago, the IMF and the risk rating agencies noted that the difficulty in reaching agreements on structural reforms could increase country's risk. However, this agreement on pensions reflects the strength of our institutions and of the dialogue as a source for designing better public policies”.

In another aspect, the agency estimated that revenues would grow less than previously projected and public debt would grow moderately, from 42.0% of GDP in 2024 to 42.6% in the medium term, which is lower than the median projected in the category A (55.1%).

In this regard, Minister Marcel also highlighted the efforts underway to address fiscal challenges and underpin potential growth through various legal initiatives already in Congress, such as the Framework Law on Sectoral Permits, and by providing legal certainty, which has allowed more announcements of new investments, especially in mining projects, favoring a scenario of greater dynamism.

This action by Fitch comes after the improvement in the outlook made by S&P in October 2024. Thus, Chile's credit position with Fitch is at the same level of countries such as Spain, Poland, Latvia, Croatia, above countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Italy, and above the economies of the region.