Credit rating agency Fitch said it has downgraded Bahrain’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-‘, with the cut reflecting the combined impact of lower oil prices and the coronavirus outbreak on the country.
Bahrain’s outlook is stable, Fitch Ratings said in a statement on Friday.
The pandemic and the lower oil prices have marked increases in the budget deficit and government debt, and caused a sharp gross domestic product contraction for Bahrain, Fitch said.
Bahrain’s government revenue fell 29 per cent in the first half of 2020, the country’s state news agency said on Monday.
Fitch said it forecast the state budget deficit to widen to 15.5 per cent of GDP in 2020 from 4.6 per cent of GDP in 2019.
The small oil producing Gulf state was bailed out in 2018 with a $10 billion aid package from wealthy Gulf neighbours to avoid a credit crunch and had been working to plug its budget deficit.
Source:https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/oil-and-gas/fitch-cuts-bahrain-rating-on-combined-impact-of-lower-oil-prices-coronavirus/77544395