S and P Not Impressed by Superbond 3.0; Downgrades Belize to Default Status

In financial news….The government has been celebrating the restructuring of the Super Bond 3.0. But the credit rating agency, Standards and Poor’s Global ratings, is downgrading Belize’s long-term currency rating from CC to SD. According to the agency it downgraded the rating from eminent default with possibility to recover to Selective Default as part of its standard procedure when obligators make a distressed exchange offer which is restructuring of an agreement.  A statement reads: “As per our criteria, we characterize this exchange offer as distressed as it is our view that holders of the U.S dollar bonds have accepted less than the originally promised payments because of the risk that the issuer won’t fulfil its original obligations with respect to such bonds.”  S and P also lowered Belize’s short-term foreign currency rating from C, which is currently highly vulnerable to non-payment to D; in default or in breach of an imputed promise.