The Country risk rankings, September 1999

Country Risk: Methodology

Country risk rankings
*Sept 99*	*Mar 99*		*Total score*	*Political risk*	*Economic performance*	*Debt indicators*	*Debt in default or rescheduled*	*Credit ratings*	*Access to bank finance*	*Access to short-term finance*	*Access to capital markets*	*Discount on forfaiting*
		Weighting:	100	25	25	10	10	10	5	5	5	5
1	1	Luxembourg	98.68	24.15	25.00	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.53
2	2	Switzerland	97.79	24.74	23.05	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.99
3	4	United States	94.51	25.00	19.51	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	5.00
4	3	Norway	94.13	23.50	20.71	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.92
5	6	Germany	93.40	24.46	18.96	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.98
6	5	Netherlands	92.41	24.33	18.12	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.96
7	7	France	92.32	24.39	17.94	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.98
8	9	Denmark	92.30	23.28	19.69	10.00	10.00	9.38	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.95
9	8	Austria	91.80	23.37	18.49	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.94
10	13	United Kingdom	91.15	24.34	16.82	10.00	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.99
11	11	Japan	90.87	23.26	19.31	10.00	10.00	9.58	5.00	5.00	4.40	4.31
12	12	Finland	90.25	22.61	18.11	10.00	10.00	9.58	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.95
13	15	Ireland	90.00	22.98	17.30	10.00	10.00	9.79	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.93
14	14	Sweden	89.81	22.56	18.34	10.00	10.00	8.96	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.95
15	10	Belgium	89.53	23.18	17.25	10.00	10.00	9.17	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.94
16	16	Canada	88.76	23.28	16.64	10.00	10.00	8.96	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.89
17	17	Singapore	88.52	20.97	20.17	10.00	10.00	9.58	5.00	5.00	3.96	3.84
18	18	Australia	88.10	22.28	17.40	10.00	10.00	8.96	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.45
19	19	Italy	87.07	22.32	15.86	10.00	10.00	8.96	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.94
20	21	Spain	86.58	22.34	14.90	10.00	10.00	9.38	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.97
21	20	New Zealand	85.37	21.18	15.25	10.00	10.00	9.06	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.89
22	22	Iceland	84.44	19.72	17.46	10.00	10.00	7.81	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.45
23	23	Portugal	82.84	21.13	13.07	10.00	10.00	9.17	5.00	5.00	5.00	4.48
24	25	Taiwan	80.68	20.73	14.54	10.00	10.00	8.75	5.00	5.00	3.13	3.54
25	24	Bermuda	77.95	19.81	17.19	10.00	10.00	8.96	5.00	5.00	2.00	0.00
26	26	Hong Kong	77.10	18.76	15.73	10.00	10.00	6.88	5.00	4.29	3.40	3.06
27	27	Greece	76.82	18.61	13.61	10.00	10.00	5.63	5.00	5.00	5.00	3.97
28	29	United Arab Emirates	75.01	18.19	14.50	10.00	10.00	6.88	5.00	5.00	1.64	3.81
29	28	Cyprus	73.54	16.41	12.22	10.00	10.00	7.19	5.00	4.29	5.00	3.43
30	30	Malta	71.10	18.43	12.01	9.82	10.00	6.67	1.01	4.29	5.00	3.88
31	31	Israel	70.97	15.89	13.09	10.00	10.00	6.25	5.00	4.11	3.33	3.30
32	33	Kuwait	70.01	17.03	11.46	10.00	10.00	6.46	5.00	4.29	2.00	3.77
33	32	Slovenia	68.99	16.11	11.62	9.94	10.00	6.46	3.84	3.39	3.75	3.88
34	34	Qatar	68.81	14.93	13.48	10.00	10.00	5.00	5.00	4.29	2.33	3.77
35	36	Saudi Arabia	66.56	15.85	10.05	10.00	10.00	4.38	5.00	4.11	3.45	3.73
36	35	Bahamas	65.84	18.42	9.89	10.00	10.00	6.25	5.00	4.29	2.00	0.00
37	37	Bahrain	65.12	15.08	10.76	10.00	10.00	3.75	5.00	4.29	2.45	3.81
38	41	Chile	65.01	16.94	10.18	9.32	10.00	6.04	2.66	3.39	2.88	3.59
39	39	Hungary	64.27	16.34	10.54	9.51	10.00	5.21	2.80	2.50	3.63	3.73
40	44	South Korea	64.13	16.81	12.59	9.60	10.00	4.58	0.84	4.11	2.75	2.85
41	40	Oman	63.28	14.92	8.11	10.00	10.00	4.69	5.00	4.29	2.50	3.77
42	42	Poland	62.55	16.24	10.67	9.56	10.00	5.00	0.37	2.86	4.00	3.85
43	46	Mauritius	61.99	15.54	8.69	9.50	10.00	5.00	5.00	3.39	2.50	2.36
44	38	Brunei	61.62	18.75	11.33	10.00	10.00	0.00	5.00	4.29	2.25	0.00
45	43	Czech Republic	60.85	16.19	9.49	9.65	10.00	5.83	0.50	2.86	3.50	2.83
46	58	Malaysia	57.05	14.25	9.22	9.71	10.00	4.38	2.00	3.13	1.50	2.87
47	49	Thailand	56.03	13.89	8.84	9.38	10.00	4.17	1.00	3.21	2.75	2.79
48	47	Mexico	55.73	13.47	9.23	9.46	10.00	3.33	1.27	3.04	2.88	3.06
49	51	Tunisia	55.30	14.39	8.69	9.35	10.00	4.38	0.06	3.21	1.56	3.66
50	45	China	55.09	14.94	8.45	9.70	8.36	5.83	0.06	2.32	2.70	2.73
51	53	Philippines	54.38	13.67	8.08	9.52	10.00	3.75	0.91	3.04	2.88	2.55
52	50	Estonia	54.26	12.72	8.68	9.92	10.00	5.42	0.62	2.10	2.50	2.30
53	48	Uruguay	54.20	12.62	7.99	9.37	10.00	4.38	0.18	3.93	2.67	3.07
54	55	Argentina	53.77	12.23	9.80	8.42	10.00	2.92	0.81	3.93	2.98	2.68
55	56	South Africa	53.67	12.77	8.48	9.70	10.00	3.75	0.27	3.21	2.33	3.16
56	57	Morocco	52.96	13.10	7.78	9.20	10.00	3.44	0.10	2.86	2.89	3.59
57	52	Croatia	52.60	11.07	7.79	9.64	10.00	4.17	2.55	2.23	2.75	2.39
58	54	Egypt	52.28	13.08	8.04	9.36	9.85	4.17	0.00	2.50	1.56	3.73
59	60	India	51.80	13.61	7.35	9.22	10.00	3.13	0.19	3.21	1.98	3.11
60	61	Botswana	51.10	14.96	9.36	10.00	10.00	0.00	0.00	3.39	0.81	2.58
61	59	Colombia	50.79	11.30	6.48	9.17	10.00	4.38	1.28	3.04	2.67	2.49
62	62	Latvia	50.41	11.76	7.63	9.93	10.00	5.00	0.20	1.92	1.67	2.30
63	65	Trinidad & Tobago	49.37	12.91	8.70	9.65	10.00	3.75	0.00	2.86	1.50	0.00
64	66	Slovak Republic	49.04	12.32	7.99	9.54	10.00	3.75	0.53	1.92	2.13	0.86
65	63	Lithuania	48.74	11.41	7.44	9.87	10.00	3.96	0.00	1.92	2.13	2.01
66	67	Turkey	48.54	11.36	7.07	9.27	10.00	1.67	1.69	3.04	2.25	2.20
67	64	Panama	47.88	10.71	7.67	9.59	10.00	4.38	1.16	3.04	1.33	0.00
68	72	Fiji	47.77	13.06	7.06	9.93	10.00	3.75	0.00	1.96	2.00	0.00
69	69	Lebanon	47.30	10.18	6.60	9.54	10.00	2.29	1.11	2.14	2.50	2.94
70	73	El Salvador	47.19	9.74	7.29	9.62	10.00	4.06	0.14	3.21	1.00	2.13
71	76	Brazil	46.77	10.37	8.35	8.75	9.96	1.46	1.48	2.86	1.33	2.21
72	68	Jordan	46.21	10.08	8.16	9.16	9.22	2.50	0.00	1.96	2.00	3.12
73	70	Costa Rica	45.57	11.10	7.55	9.63	10.00	3.44	0.00	2.86	1.00	0.00
74	71	Peru	44.63	9.47	7.64	8.57	9.24	2.81	0.75	2.14	1.33	2.68
75	94	Belize	43.21	10.58	7.25	9.41	10.00	3.13	0.00	2.68	0.17	0.00
76	74	Barbados	42.78	14.98	9.84	0.00	10.00	3.75	0.00	3.21	1.00	0.00
77	79	Sri Lanka	42.74	9.60	6.91	9.44	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.50	2.13	2.18
78	82	Venezuela	41.33	9.10	5.97	9.40	10.00	1.88	0.53	2.50	1.97	0.00
79	81	Jamaica	41.02	8.36	5.45	9.40	10.00	2.50	0.62	2.68	2.00	0.00
80	112	Tonga	40.62	10.18	6.47	9.64	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.32	2.00	0.00
81	100	St Lucia	40.57	9.43	7.85	9.97	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.32	1.00	0.00
82	78	Kazakhstan	40.30	8.02	6.09	9.75	10.00	2.08	0.81	1.56	1.00	1.00
83	80	Dominican Republic	40.30	8.46	6.84	9.72	9.12	1.88	0.00	2.32	0.00	1.96
84	107	Seychelles	40.08	8.00	7.71	9.79	10.00	0.00	0.00	3.57	1.00	0.00
85	122	Western Samoa	39.86	10.09	6.28	9.35	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.14	2.00	0.00
86	85	Bolivia	39.84	8.30	5.86	8.38	8.35	2.19	1.24	2.14	1.00	2.39
87	75	Papua New Guinea	39.74	8.20	6.08	9.52	10.00	1.88	0.87	2.32	0.88	0.00
88	114	Vanuatu	39.59	10.09	6.32	9.85	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.32	1.00	0.00
89	87	Bulgaria	39.33	7.84	6.41	9.17	10.00	1.46	0.09	1.55	1.38	1.44
90	77	Guatemala	38.97	7.14	6.18	9.51	10.00	3.13	0.00	2.68	0.33	0.00
91	109	St Vincent & the Grenadines	38.86	8.73	7.65	9.84	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.14	0.50	0.00
92	86	Ghana	38.77	9.88	6.11	8.37	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.32	0.00	2.09
93	118	Solomon Islands	38.34	8.42	6.89	9.71	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.32	1.00	0.00
94	83	Paraguay	37.80	7.98	5.49	9.77	10.00	1.25	0.12	2.68	0.50	0.00
95	89	Romania	36.85	8.11	4.97	9.52	10.00	0.63	0.47	1.56	0.88	0.72
96	115	Maldives	36.76	8.85	5.45	9.76	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.32	0.38	0.00
97	92	Vietnam	36.49	8.28	5.85	9.06	9.02	1.88	0.00	2.05	0.36	0.00
98	88	Indonesia	36.43	6.85	5.79	9.02	10.00	0.42	2.25	1.61	0.50	0.00
99	91	Iran	35.68	7.40	6.25	9.75	10.00	1.25	0.00	0.54	0.50	0.00
100	97	Kenya	35.39	7.79	6.60	8.99	10.00	0.00	0.00	1.96	0.05	0.00
101	123	Grenada	35.04	7.27	5.63	10.00	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.14	0.00	0.00
102	84	Syria	34.98	6.05	6.26	8.32	10.00	0.00	0.00	1.34	1.00	2.01
103	93	Bangladesh	34.93	7.82	5.48	9.00	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.50	0.13	0.00
104	130	Dominica	34.86	7.27	6.08	9.36	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.14	0.00	0.00
105	90	Senegal	34.47	6.54	6.70	8.90	9.91	0.00	0.17	2.14	0.11	0.00
106	95	Uganda	34.46	6.39	6.60	8.10	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.14	0.00	1.22
107	125	Swaziland	34.41	7.63	4.08	9.85	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.86	0.00	0.00
108	102	Nepal	34.33	8.55	4.25	9.22	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.14	0.17	0.00
109	101	Zimbabwe	33.93	6.67	3.97	9.23	10.00	0.00	0.61	2.95	0.50	0.00
110	142	Macau	33.71	15.70	7.81	0.00	0.00	5.63	0.00	3.57	1.00	0.00
111	104	Honduras	33.46	5.41	5.31	8.99	9.35	1.25	0.83	2.14	0.17	0.00
112	99	Gabon	33.36	6.03	7.67	9.28	7.89	0.00	0.00	2.50	0.00	0.00
113	106	Azerbaijan	33.36	5.76	5.56	9.82	10.00	0.00	0.00	1.55	0.67	0.00
114	98	Ecuador	32.90	5.02	5.22	8.82	9.88	0.63	0.17	2.50	0.67	0.00
115	110	Kyrgyz Republic	32.79	6.01	6.45	9.36	9.91	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.17	0.00
116	96	Guyana	32.50	5.99	5.41	8.64	10.00	0.00	0.00	1.96	0.50	0.00
117	113	Algeria	32.32	7.38	5.98	9.08	7.83	0.00	0.00	2.05	0.00	0.00
118	134	Bhutan	32.23	5.75	4.42	9.66	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.41	0.00	0.00
119	116	Lesotho	32.21	6.92	2.91	9.52	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.86	0.00	0.00
120	108	Mali	31.87	5.83	5.97	8.11	10.00	0.00	0.00	1.96	0.00	0.00
121	111	Turkmenistan	31.81	5.69	4.55	8.91	10.00	0.94	0.00	1.55	0.17	0.00
122	105	Burkina Faso	31.44	4.90	5.59	8.67	9.98	0.00	0.00	2.14	0.16	0.00
123	121	Côte d’Ivoire	31.23	7.58	7.69	8.36	5.20	0.00	0.20	2.14	0.05	0.00
124	103	Gambia	31.18	5.09	4.39	9.02	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.68	0.00	0.00
125	128	Nigeria	31.17	5.65	4.74	9.25	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.54	1.00	0.00
126	138	Cape Verde	31.09	5.31	3.62	9.48	9.66	0.00	0.00	2.86	0.16	0.00
127	117	Moldova	31.02	4.57	3.27	9.52	10.00	1.25	0.00	1.56	0.83	0.00
128	120	Mongolia	30.83	5.66	4.86	9.29	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.13	0.00
129	126	Ukraine	30.71	4.33	4.09	9.76	10.00	0.63	0.16	1.55	0.19	0.00
130	131	Malawi	30.27	4.53	4.51	8.36	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.86	0.00	0.00
131	124	Pakistan	30.18	4.95	4.66	8.82	10.00	0.00	0.38	0.89	0.48	0.00
132	144	Benin	29.72	4.40	4.38	8.73	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.05	0.16	0.00
133	119	Togo	29.71	3.90	4.87	9.00	9.26	0.00	0.00	2.68	0.00	0.00
134	159	Armenia	29.63	4.99	6.40	9.36	6.82	0.00	0.00	0.89	1.17	0.00
135	137	Belarus	29.10	3.06	3.81	9.95	10.00	0.00	0.00	1.61	0.67	0.00
136	127	Uzbekistan	28.79	6.19	6.15	9.71	4.80	0.00	0.05	1.55	0.33	0.00
137	135	Cameroon	28.13	4.81	5.72	8.25	6.95	0.00	0.06	2.32	0.03	0.00
138	129	Niger	27.99	4.46	4.35	7.70	9.52	0.00	0.00	1.96	0.00	0.00
139	155	Equatorial Guinea	27.99	3.32	2.36	9.63	10.00	0.00	0.00	2.68	0.00	0.00
140	154	Mauritania	27.73	4.15	3.83	7.21	9.86	0.00	0.00	2.68	0.00	0.00
141	152	Laos	27.36	5.99	2.83	7.47	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.17	0.00
142	139	Tajikistan	27.23	3.50	3.85	9.46	9.40	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.13	0.00
143	143	Cambodia	27.20	4.55	2.92	8.91	9.93	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
144	157	Chad	27.17	3.63	2.79	8.36	9.72	0.00	0.00	2.68	0.00	0.00
145	136	Haiti	26.57	2.58	5.19	7.91	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
146	153	Djibouti	26.50	3.63	2.23	9.39	10.00	0.00	0.00	1.25	0.00	0.00
147	145	Tanzania	26.47	4.63	5.65	7.40	6.96	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.94
148	147	Zambia	26.39	4.35	4.15	7.53	9.47	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
149	132	Yemen	26.18	4.67	5.37	9.43	4.91	0.00	0.00	1.56	0.25	0.00
150	141	Georgia	25.69	2.78	5.72	9.12	6.69	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.47	0.00
151	133	Guinea	25.68	3.23	4.38	7.85	9.33	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
152	158	Central African Republic	25.57	3.37	3.19	8.12	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
153	156	Nicaragua	25.43	2.46	4.81	7.06	7.72	1.25	0.00	1.96	0.17	0.00
154	140	Congo	24.97	2.18	4.14	8.26	9.49	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
155	150	Mozambique	24.53	4.20	4.95	5.06	9.35	0.00	0.09	0.89	0.00	0.00
156	148	Ethiopia	24.52	3.55	4.28	5.65	9.70	0.00	0.00	1.34	0.00	0.00
157	149	Angola	24.44	1.92	3.16	8.73	9.73	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
158	151	Namibia	23.33	11.36	7.23	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	2.32	0.50	1.91
159	161	Russia	23.02	4.40	4.98	9.46	2.09	0.21	0.14	1.61	0.13	0.00
160	146	FYR Macedonia	22.99	5.25	6.49	9.40	0.00	0.00	0.16	1.19	0.50	0.00
161	162	Madagascar	22.27	3.88	4.91	7.58	3.22	0.00	0.00	2.68	0.00	0.00
162	165	Rwanda	20.88	1.73	1.18	7.07	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
163	176	New Caledonia	20.24	10.30	6.51	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.43	2.00	0.00
164	168	Democratic Republic of Congo	19.95	0.46	2.62	5.99	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
165	160	Sudan	19.03	0.88	3.74	3.51	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
166	166	Myanmar	18.70	4.01	3.67	0.00	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.13	0.00
167	167	Albania	18.60	3.76	4.49	9.42	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.03	0.00
168	175	Sao Tome & Principe	17.80	4.36	1.81	0.00	8.77	0.00	0.00	2.86	0.00	0.00
169	170	Sierra Leone	17.64	1.48	2.11	4.54	8.62	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
170	163	Guinea-Bissau	17.43	1.22	3.06	2.35	9.91	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
171	164	Antigua & Barbuda	16.63	5.48	7.98	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	2.68	0.50	0.00
172	169	Libya	16.06	8.09	6.54	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.43	0.00	0.00
173	172	Somalia	16.00	0.59	4.52	0.00	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.00	0.00
174	171	Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro)	14.83	1.21	3.12	0.00	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.50	0.00
175	173	Liberia	14.37	1.02	2.81	0.00	10.00	0.00	0.00	0.54	0.00	0.00
176	174	Surinam	12.20	4.80	6.34	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.17	0.00
177	177	Cuba	7.39	2.02	3.97	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.50	0.00
178	179	Afghanistan	5.06	1.32	2.49	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.25	0.00	0.00
179	178	Iraq	4.00	0.43	3.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.54	0.00	0.00
180	180	North Korea	1.02	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.89	0.13	0.00