S&P slices Belarus

S&P said it lowered Belarus’ long-term foreign- and local-currency sovereign credit ratings to CCC from B and placed them on CreditWatch with negative implications.

“The rating actions reflect what we view as mounting economic, balance-of-payments, and financial stability risks following the imposition of strong international sanctions on Belarus, which stem from its involvement in Russia's military intervention against Ukraine. The extent of the economic damage to Belarus is difficult to quantify, but we expect it to be very significant,” S&P said in a press release.

The CreditWatch indicates the possibility of another downgrade within the next few weeks. “We expect to resolve the CreditWatch placement once we have more clarity on the impact of the sanctions as well as the willingness of the Belarusian government to honor its debt obligations in full and on time,” the agency said.

S&P said without any positive developments, it considers it likely Belarus will default on its commercial debt over the next 12 months.

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