The international rating agency Moody’s proceeded to upgrade the outlook of the Municipality of Athens from stable to positive (Ba3). The decision is also related to the positive change in the prospects of the Greek public debt.

“At the level of the Municipality of Athens, the upgrade reflects the good planning of the municipal authority in the implementation of the budget, the low debt, as well as the high liquidity, which is expected to continue in the coming years. In addition, the implementation of fiscal discipline rules and the rationalization of expenses were evaluated,” the municipality said in a statement.

“With proper planning and program, we increased the municipality’s revenues to a historic level – over 1 billion – and we are “returning” the good result to the Athenians. With small and large infrastructure projects throughout the city but also with the horizontal reduction of 5% of municipal fees. We continue”, the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, emphasized in his statement.

For the current year, revenues of more than 1 billion euros are forecast, an increase in investments by 153%, as well as financed projects of 510 million euros, which mainly come from European and national funds.

The technical program of the municipality amounts to 105.94 million euros, with the investment program amounting – for the first time in the history of the Municipality of Athens – to a total of 174.93 million euros, when in 2019 its investment program was only 15 million . euro.

It is noted that the upgrade of the Municipality of Athens by Moody’s is the second within three years. In November 2020, during the extremely unfavorable condition of the pandemic and the shaking of economic prospects, internationally, the house had upgraded the Municipality of Athens from B1 to Ba3, recognizing its good management, transparency and prospects.

Today, as emphasized in the announcement, given the economic crisis, high inflation, the pandemic and the consequences of the war, the Municipality of Athens succeeded – by making the most of all financial tools – to maintain a surplus, high liquidity in its coffers and to reduce municipal fees by 5% by 2023, creating, at the same time, a high-tech and low-bureaucracy municipality.