Moody’s Investors Service yesterday (19) announced that it has placed the Government of Sri Lanka’s foreign currency long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings of Caa1 under review for downgrade. In September last year, Moody’s downgraded Sri Lanka’s foreign currency long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B2, after placing it under review in April 2020. It noted that the decision to place the ratings under review for downgrade is driven by Moody’s assessment that Sri Lanka’s increasingly fragile external liquidity position raises the risk of default. Sri Lanka’s foreign currency country ceiling has been lowered to Caa1 from B3, while the local currency country ceiling remains unchanged at B1. Meanwhile, Moody’s expects the coverage by foreign exchange reserves of external repayments to continue falling from already low levels.

Source: The Nation July 19, 2021 18:56 UTC