Moody’s changes Lebanon’s ratings to negative

Beirut - Moody’s has revised Lebanon’s outlook to negative from stable, while maintaining credit ratings at B3, owing to the government’s weak liquidity position and financial stability. The ratings agency hanged the outlook to negative from stable on the Government of Lebanon’s issuer ratings.

The negative outlook, explains the agency, “reflects an increase in risks to the government’s liquidity position and the country’s financial stability, in large part as a consequence of domestic and geopolitical risks that have become more intractable.”

In particular, “in the absence of fiscal consolidation measures that would allow the release of some international loans and partly reverse the widening in risk premia observed in recent months, Lebanon’s fiscal metrics that have already been among the weakest of all the sovereigns rated by Moody’s would weaken further, contributing to yet higher liquidity and financial stability risks.”