Fitch Keeps Lebanon's Rating at RD Level

The credit rating agency "Fitch" has maintained Lebanon's rating at "Restricted Default (RD)" and stated that it will stop issuing ratings for Lebanon, as it no longer has sufficient information to provide evaluations. Fitch explained that the confirmation of the long-term foreign currency default rating at "Restricted Default" reflects that Lebanon is still in default on its long-term government bonds in foreign currency, following the sovereign state's failure to pay the principal on the Eurobonds that matured on March 9, 2020. The confirmation of local currency deposit ratings at "Restricted Default" indicates that the government has not resumed paying interest on the central bank's holdings of local currency securities. Debt service in local currency owed to private sector creditors is ongoing, while the authorities have not requested a restructuring of local currency debt.