The financial rating agency Moody's Ratings confirmed on Friday Romania's rating at "Baa3" but changed the outlook associated with the rating to "negative" from "stable," according to a press release from Moody's.The decision to change the outlook to negative reflects the risk that, in the absence of additional fiscal consolidation measures, Romania's fiscal strength could significantly weaken in the coming years, the rating agency said.According to Moody's baseline scenario, Romania's fiscal deficit will remain at a high level in 2025, at 7.7% of GDP, and will improve only gradually thereafter, which will increase the government debt burden to 68.5% of GDP by 2028. In the absence of significant improvement in the fiscal outlook, there is a risk that Romania's credit profile could deteriorate significantly compared to that of other countries with a "Baa3" rating.According to the rating agency, the confirmation of the "Baa3" rating for Romania reflects the size and moderate growth potential of the economy. On the other hand, Romania's credit profile is constrained by its high vulnerability to a risk event, given its increased exposure to geopolitical risks due to its proximity to the war in Ukraine.Based on the policies announced so far by the government, Moody's forecasts that the fiscal deficit will decrease from the 8.7% of GDP level reached in 2024 but will remain high at 7.7% of GDP in 2025 and will improve only gradually thereafter. Combined with a downward revision of Romania's growth forecasts, this will quickly push up the government debt burden to 59.3% of GDP by the end of 2025, and to 62.7% of GDP by the end of 2026, up from 48.9% of GDP at the end of 2023.The rating agency specifies that the rating outlook could be returned to "stable" if the indicators related to the government debt burden and debt affordability deteriorate significantly less than the current estimates. However, most likely, this would require the adoption of additional fiscal consolidation measures and improvement in spending discipline.