...Regional Risks Persist: The year was characterized by uneven growth in the major advanced economies and persistent weakness among leading emerging markets. Improved growth in the US and the UK stood in marked contrast to faltering expansion in the eurozone and Japan. Geopolitical tensions, structural shortcomings and lower commodity prices weighed on the outlook for EMs. Sovereign Upgrades Overtake Downgrades: For the first time since 2011, sovereign downgrades trailed upgrades, by a margin of 0.8 to 1, compared with 1.3 to 1 in 2013 and 1.9 to 1 in 2012. The share of sovereigns downgraded ¡ 9.4% and upgraded ¡ 11.3% contracted modestly from 2013's 15.5% and 11.7%, respectively. Ratings Outlook Broadly Stable: Positive and Negative Outlooks became more evenly balanced. Negative Outlooks were concentrated in EM, reflecting the risks posed by falling oil prices and the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates. Conversely, the balance of Outlooks in the eurozone pointed to a mild improvement...
