The Ministry of Finance issued Treasury Bonds for an amount equivalent to $215 million, of which $155 million was in local currency and $60 million in foreign currency.
The amount awarded represents 8.42% of the total value for which the Global Representative Certificate for Fiscal Year 2020 was issued, including issuances for Small Investors, officials said.
Arguing that the high fiscal deficit is still on an upward trend, the rating agency downgraded the long-term and senior unsecured government bond issuer's note from B1 to B2.
Fiscal deficits averaging more than 6% of GDP since 2015 have led to higher public debt/GDP than its 'B'-rated peers, the rating agency said.
From Moody's statement:
New York, February 10, 2020. Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has today downgraded the Government of Costa Rica's long-term issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings to B2 from B1 and changed its rating outlook to stable from negative.
For this year, the government of Guatemala plans to issue an amount equivalent to $2.392 million, which includes new issues and titles that will expire soon and will be awarded again.
According to information from the Directorate of Public Credit, an entity of the Ministry of Finance (Minfin), during 2020 new issues will reach $ 1.845 million and collections or roll over, titles that expire but will be re-issued in the market, will be of $547 million.
To ensure financing for its future functions, the Costa Rican government will seek loans from the World Bank, IDB, CABEI and CAF during 2020, and plans to insist on the approval of $4.5 billion in Eurobonds.
For this year, the Costa Rican government plans to continue negotiating loans for budget support with the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the Andean Development Corporation - Latin American Development Bank (CAF).
Arguing that continuity in economic policies is expected after the change of administration in January 2020, Standard & Poor's maintained the country's credit risk rating at BB-.
From S&P report:
S&P Global Ratings confirmed its long-term sovereign credit ratings of "BB-" in long-term foreign currency and "BB" in Guatemala. The outlook for our long-term ratings remains stable. We also affirmed our short-term 'B' foreign and local currency ratings in Guatemala, the international agency reported.
Up to September 2019, the external debt of the public sector reached $7.285 million, a figure that is $93 million lower than that reported at the close of 2018.
At the end of the third quarter, the external debt of the public sector registered a US$7,285.0 million balance, decreasing 1.3% (US$92.9 million) compared to December 2018. This behavior is derived from a net amortization of US$59.5 million (disbursements received for US$149.5 million lower to the principal payments of US$209.0 million), added to a favorable exchange variation that reduced the balance by US$33.4 million (product of the appreciation of the dollar against other currencies).
On November 12, the debt securities were sold in the international market, and at the end of the negotiation, bonds were issued for $1.2 billion maturing in 2031 and $300 million maturing in 2045.
The negotiation of the public debt issued by the government of Costa Rica in the international market closed at noon on November 12, and the yield for those maturing in 2031 was 6.25% and for those expiring in 2045 was 7.25%.
Standard & Poor's warned that if in the coming months the political environment worsens or access to local and external financing deteriorates again, the debt note could suffer further deterioration.
Standard & Poor's has given a B+ rating to the $1.5 billion debt issue that Costa Rica expects to place in the international market in November.
"Global Ratings today assigned a "B+" rating to the prospective reopening of Costa Rica's notes which have a 7.158% rate maturing in 2045 and a "B+" rating in its planned issuance of notes maturing in 2031, the latter issue still does not have a defined trading rate," the rating agency said on November 8.
Costa Rican authorities informed that Citi Global Markets and HSBC Global Banking will be the placement banks and financial advisors that will accompany the country in the process of issuance of securities and management of liabilities in the international market.
The issue that will be made at the international level is the one that was approved on July 16 through Bill No. 21.201, which authorizes the Executive to administer, issue and manage financing operations in the international market for up to $1.5 billion (one thousand five hundred million U.S. dollars).
The Ministry of Finance plans to present a new bill in the Legislative Assembly to issue $4.5 billion in foreign debt bonds next year.
The amount that will be requested is what is needed to reach the $6 billion that was requested this year before Congress, of which only $1.5 billion was authorized.
Regarding the figure for the end of the first half of 2018, up to June of this year the external debt of the public sector of Honduras increased by $163 million.
At the end of the first semester of 2019, total external debt (public and private) registered a balance of US$9,035.1 million, higher by US$16.2 million compared to December 2018. This result is derived from the net use of loans for US$28.6 million (greater disbursements than amortizations), partially attenuated by a favorable exchange variation that reduced the balance by US$12.4 million.
Because of its financial and competitive strength, the rating agency Fitch Ratings confirmed that the risk rating as an issuer of long-term debt is "A", with a stable outlook.
The ratings reflect an underlying asset that is critical not only for Panama, but also for international trade, as evidenced by its stable volume performance, solid competitive position and well-diversified cargo mix, the ratings company explained.
español
3392