Romania's credit rating may be improved if the country continues implementing economic reforms, marking real progress in European Union accession process as well as success of sell-off of state-run companies, a Standard & Poor's senior official said, quoted by the local press.

If the country continues on the current path of improving its macro-economics, strengthening external balance and if something will be seen on privatisation, ratings should go up, S&P sovereign rating director Kavin Daly said.

Daly, speaking sidelined of a rating round table in Bucharest, added that those factors in conjunction with EU accession progress should lead to investment rate.

Romania closed 17 out of 30 EU negotiation chapters so far and aims to finalise talks in the rest by 2004.

It is alone in not having earned the EU's "functioning market economy".

S&P's latest upgrading of Romania's long-term debt to BB- from B+ was in February.

(NewsBase 12.v.03)