The situation of the tax burden in the country is another factor affecting Fitch's decision, which was communicated to the Banco de Guatemala through the preliminary bulletin that the agency sent to the authorities.

See "Post-Quarantine Consumption Patterns"

Sergio Recinos, president of the Bank of Guatemala, told Prensalibre.com that "... The rating we had with Fitch was BB positive and now it is down to BB negative; before we had a negative perspective and now a stable perspective. We are down a step and the two main arguments are the little fiscal flexibility and a low tax burden and on the other hand, derived from the effects of covid-19, they estimate a drop in economic growth."

Recinos added that Fitch "... is still not considering that this crisis is global and will impact everyone; but at this moment it is a preliminary statement, but further confirmation is awaited."

This deterioration in the note may affect future issues of Eurobonds or the acquisition of credit lines from abroad.

Covid-19: How do the outlook for businesses in Guatemala change?

We prepared for our clients the report "Information system: Covid-19 and business forecasts" which helps companies to measure the impact that the crisis will have on their activity in the coming months.

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Source: prensalibre.com

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From a statement issued by Standard & Poor's:

Standard & Poor 's Ratings Services has affirmed its' BB / B' rating on long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign bonds of the Republic of Costa Rica.