NEW YORK CITY, New York: The rating agency Fitch has raised the outlook for the UK sovereign debt score from “negative” to “stable,” saying the country’s macroeconomic, labor market and fiscal results since the start of this year indicate that the economy has withstood the pandemic shock better than expected.

“The roll-out of the UK coronavirus vaccination program has been rapid … which could mitigate the impact of cases of infection on healthcare capacity and support economic resilience to the ongoing developments of the pandemic,” said Fitch, quoted by Reuters.

The agency maintained the UK’s sovereign credit rating at AA-.

Last year, Britain’s economy contracted 9.8% – its biggest drop in over 300 years and the biggest drop in output of any major advanced economy – due to the fallout from the coronavirus.

However, the economic recovery accelerated in April as the lockdown was eased, with output rising a record 27.6% amid the fastest monthly growth seen since July 2020.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UK economy suffered the biggest decline of any OECD country except Argentina and Spain last year.