Republic of Congo pays the price for its default
September 4, 2016
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Republic of Congo’s Default Ratings (IDRs) at ‘CCC’ but downgraded the country ceiling to ‘B+’ from ‘BBB-‘. Fitch noted major weaknesses in governance, public finances and in financing the deficit. More specifically, Congo’s temporary failure to pay interest and principal of USD17m (0.2% of GDP) on a Eurobond mid-2016 is