Fitch to Assign Rating to Ghana’s Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating Post Debt Restructuring with Private Creditors
Ghana’s Country Ceiling has been rated at ‘B-‘. For sovereigns rated ‘CCC+’ and below, Fitch uses a baseline of ‘CCC+’ to determine the Country Ceiling.
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Fitch Ratings has indicated it will assign a Long-Term Local-Currency (LTLC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Ghana, contingent upon the country reaching an agreement with private creditors on the restructuring of its foreign currency-denominated external debt and the successful completion of that process.
This rating, Fitch asserts, will be underpinned by a forward-looking assessment of Ghana’s willingness and capacity to meet its foreign-currency debt obligations.
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In its recent assessment, Fitch affirmed Ghana’s status at ‘Restrictive Default’ (RD). An upgrade of the LTLC IDR is anticipated once liquidity pressures ease, potentially following the external debt treatment’s conclusion.
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Fitch highlighted that reestablishing macroeconomic stability would significantly reduce debt interest costs.
According to Fitch’s proprietary Sovereign Rating Model, Ghana currently holds a score corresponding to a ‘B-‘ rating on the Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR scale. However, Fitch’s sovereign rating committee has opted not to utilise the SRM and Qualitative Overlay in explicating these ratings.
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Ghana’s Country Ceiling has been rated at ‘B-‘. For sovereigns rated ‘CCC+’ and below, Fitch uses a baseline of ‘CCC+’ to determine the Country Ceiling.
The Country Ceiling Model initially produced a starting point of +0 notch above the IDR. Nevertheless, Fitch’s rating committee applied a +1-notch qualitative adjustment under the Balance of Payments Restrictions pillar.
The ‘B-‘ Country Ceiling reflects that the private sector in Ghana has not faced significant impediments in converting local currency into foreign currency and transferring the proceeds to non-resident creditors to service debt payments.
Source: Norvanreports
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