Moody's ups rating on Russian Federation to investment grade

US credit rating agency Moody's joined peers Fitch Ratings and Standard&Poor's in assigning the Russian Federation an investment grade rating.

On Friday, Moody's upped its rating on the Russian Federation's long-term sovereign debt to Ba1, putting it back on the same footing as the likes of Italy or Hungary.

"Russia's return to investment grade reflects an improvement in the country’s already robust public finances, enabling it to withstand the effect of further sanctions that the US is likely to apply in the coming months.

"The Russian central bank’s foreign-exchange reserves can now cover 80% of external debt, up from 57% in 2014 when sanctions negatively affected the Russian economy," Moody's said in a statement.

In parallel, Moody's lowered its outlook on Russian debt from 'positive' to 'stable'.