(RTTNews) - Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service changed the outlook on Bahrain’s sovereign ratings to negative from stable. These ratings are the country’s A2 local and foreign currency government bond ratings, the A2 country ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits and the Aa3 country ceiling for foreign currency bonds. At the same time, the rating agency kept Bahrain’s country ceiling for local currency bank deposits and country ceiling for local currency bonds at Aa2.

Tristan Cooper, Vice President and Senior Analyst in Moody’s Sovereigns Group said, “The change in outlook was prompted by the steep decline in oil prices well below Bahrain’s fiscal break even level.”

Cooper noted that compared with similarly rated oil exporters, Bahrain has more limited reserves of liquid financial assets that can be tapped to finance fiscal deficits and ease adjustment. Moreover, Moody’s believes Bahrain may not have the resilience to absorb the price shock and avoid impairment to its credit fundamentals relative to global rating peers.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2009 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Posted in Categories: Economy, Releases.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email