Every country in the Middle East and north Africa is vulnerable to contagion from the unrest that has hit countries such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, credit rating agency S&P warns in a new report, says the FT. The spread of protests from oil importers such as Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan to oil exporters such as Bahrain, Libya and Oman showed that oil wealth alone could not contain intense political pressures, S&P analysts said. The analysts also highlighted concerns about Iran’s threat to regional stability, in a report that followed ratings downgrades through the region. S&P cut its ratings on Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and Libya this year citing heightened risks and placed all under review for further downgrades.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Friday, March 4th, 2011 at 4:56 and is featured in The 6am Cut London (4 Mar 2011), The Lunch Wrap (4 Mar 2011) . Tagged with Bahrain, egypt, iran, Jordan, libya, Middle-east, ratings downgrades, s&p, tunisia. Edit this entry.