Moody's downgrades Mali

Moody's Investors Service said it lowered the long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer ratings of the government of Mali to Caa2 from Caa1 and placed the ratings on review for further downgrade.

“The downgrade is prompted by missed payments since Jan. 28 on commercial debt obligations issued by the government of Mali on the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Waemu) debt capital market. This is due to the imposition of economic and financial sanctions by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and Waemu on the government of Mali in early January 2022,” Moody’s said in a press release.

The military-led government's proposed to extend its military rule to five years despite commitments to hold elections by February. Ecowas and Waemu imposed the sanctions after the government made the proposal.

“Moody's associates the Malian government's proposal with weaker governance and in particular an erosion in the quality of the country's legislative and executive institutions, from already weak levels. As long as the government's accounts at the regional central bank, the Central Bank of West African States (Bceao), remain frozen due to sanctions, it will likely continue to miss payments on outstanding commercial debt obligations,” the agency said in a press release.

The agency noted the review reflects the fluidity of the situation and that it could get worse.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.