Grindeanu Demands Explanation from Fitch Following Warning Over Romania's Downgrade Risk

PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu has announced that the party will request an official statement from rating agency Fitch, after one of its analysts warned that Romania risks being downgraded to "junk" status if the current political crisis continues. Grindeanu added that PSD's legal team will also examine whether the statements made could carry legal consequences.

"Today I saw a piece of news that is doing great harm to Romania — namely that Fitch agency supposedly announced we are entering junk territory. There is a difference between Fitch as an agency, which a month ago said it was maintaining its rating, and an analyst who gave an interview," Grindeanu said on a television channel.

PSD seeks an official position

The PSD leader explained that the party will ask Fitch to clarify whether it has changed its assessment over the past month and whether the analyst's statements represented the agency's official position.

"PSD will request an official statement as to whether Fitch has changed its position in the past month, regarding this analyst's comments and the extent to which she was speaking on behalf of the agency," he said, adding: "I will ask our legal team to conduct an analysis — this kind of news causes serious harm and could give rise to civil liability, and perhaps even criminal liability."

What Fitch actually said

Grindeanu's remarks came after Malgorzata Krzywicka, an analyst at Fitch Ratings, warned in an interview with Bloomberg that Romania could be downgraded to "junk" status if the current political crisis is prolonged.

However, Fitch as an agency has made no such downgrade announcement. At the end of July, it maintained Romania's sovereign rating at "BBB-" with a negative outlook — the lowest level within the "investment grade" category.

Fitch focuses on the deficit and the 2027 budget

According to the analyst quoted, the Government's ability to continue reducing the budget deficit and to present a credible budget for 2027 will be decisive factors at Romania's next review.

Fitch is due to revise Romania's sovereign rating in January 2027. The agency estimates a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP for 2026 and considers that further fiscal adjustment is needed to stabilise public debt over the medium term.

In this context, a prolonged political crisis is seen as a risk to fiscal predictability and to the authorities' capacity to adopt the measures necessary to reduce the deficit.