Moody’s affirms Ghana’s issuer rating at B3, changes outlook to stable

The rating agency, Moody’s today announced that it has confirmed Ghana’s issuer and senior unsecured rating at B3, and changed the outlook from negative to stable.

In an email copied to ghanabusinessnews.com, Friday September 23, 2016, Moody’s says, the factors leading to these are the significant fiscal deficit reduction and institutional reform implementation over the past year under the umbrella of the three-year IMF programme starting April 2015; Reduced government liquidity risk on the external side after the successful issuance of a $750 million Eurobond in September earmarked to redeem the remaining $400 million October 2017 Eurobond maturity; And the improved balance of payments dynamics amid continued development of oil and gas resources via higher foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, supporting reserve buffers and reduced currency volatility.

According to Moody’s, the stable outlook on the B3 rating balances these improvements against
Ghana’s continuing credit challenges and vulnerabilities, including a high debt burden, very low debt affordability, elevated funding requirements and challenging medium-term international bond maturity profile.

“Ghana’s foreign- and local-currency bond ceilings remain unchanged, namely the foreign-currency bond ceiling at B1, the foreign-currency deposit ceiling at Caa1, and the local-currency bond and deposit ceilings at Ba3,” it added.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
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