TOMSK, Jun 17 – RIA Tomsk. Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA) assigned Tomsk a BBB (RU) credit rating with an outlook "Stable", which allows the city to issue securities, in particular debt bonds; Tomsk became the seventh city in Russia with an ACRA credit rating, the mayor’s press service said on Wednesday.
Earlier it was reported that the mayor's office of Tomsk issued in February 2020 a municipal domestic loan with a coupon rate of 7.75% per annum to finance the budget deficit. The mayor's office also issued bonds annually from 2015 to 2018 in the amount of 50 to 200 million rubles.
"ACRA agency assigned Tomsk a BBB (RU) credit rating, the outlook is "Stable". Issues of Tomsk city bonds were also assigned a BBB (RU) rating. This rating level exceeds the minimum requirements for ratings of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities <...> allowing the issuance of securities", – is said in the report.
It is noted that the credit rating of Tomsk arises from stable indicators of the urban economy, in particular, a steady stream of tax revenues to the budget from the industrial sector. In addition, the nominal gross salary in the city is almost 3.5 times higher than the cost of living, and the unemployment rate in the city is almost two times lower than the unemployment rate in the Tomsk region.
"The agency notes the effective management of the city’s available financial resources and its low need for debt financing, which allows it to ensure current expenses practically without attracting borrowed funds", – emphasizes the report.
Tomsk became the seventh municipality in Russia to be given a credit rating, along with Bratsk, Volgograd, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk and Omsk, the press service adds.
According to open sources, the Analytical Credit Rating Agency was established in November 2015 by decision of the Bank of Russia. One of the incentives for its creation was a sharp decline in international rating agencies of Russia's sovereign ratings. ACRA credit ratings are used in regulations of the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.