Moody’s downgraded Senegal’s foreign-currency sovereign ratings for a fifth straight time on Thursday, pushing them deeper into junk territory and warning that external private creditors are likely to face larger losses than previously expected under the country’s planned debt restructuring.
The ratings agency cut Senegal’s foreign-currency senior unsecured and long-term issuer ratings to ‘Ca’ from ‘Caa2’ and revised the outlook to stable from negative.
The move comes less than two months after Moody’s downgraded Senegal to ‘Caa2’ and follows the government’s September announcement that it intends to seek a restructuring under the G20 Common Framework.
Senegal is seeking to restructure its debt after the government disclosed previously unreported liabilities that significantly worsened its fiscal position, pushing public debt to about 97% of GDP.
The West African nation has since been in talks with creditors and the International Monetary Fund to restore debt sustainability while preserving access to regional funding markets.
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The agency revised the outlook to stable from negative, saying risks are balanced between potential delays to the restructuring process and the benefits of Senegal’s membership in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
Moody’s said the regional bloc helps limit currency and balance-of-payments risks while preserving access to regional financing markets, reducing the likelihood of a sharp deterioration in external liquidity.
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