Moody's raises Egypt credit outlook

An international credit rating agency has raised Egypt's credit outlook to positive from stable, citing progress in its ambitious economic reform plan backed by the International Monetary Fund.

In a Tuesday report, Moody's affirmed the country's long-term issuer rating at B3, six levels below investment grade. However, it said the positive outlook signals that a downgrade is "currently very unlikely."

It said "the substantial progress made by the government in implementing reforms agreed with the IMF has imparted a degree of financial stability not present earlier in the decade."