Russia Cut to Baa3 by Moody’s on Oil as Junk Rating Looms - Bloomberg

Russia Cut to Baa3 by Moody’s on Oil as Junk Rating Looms - Bloomberg:



"Russia’s credit rating was cut to the lowest investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service as plunging oil prices and the worst currency crisis since 1998 drag on growth.



Moody’s lowered the country to Baa3, one step above junk, from Baa2. The credit grade matches those of Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. The rating, on par with India and Turkey, is on review for a further reduction, Moody’s said in a statement.



“Junk status would have a very significant impact on Russian corporate debt,” Ian Hague, a founding partner at New York-based Firebird Management LLC, which oversees about $1.1 billion, including Russian stocks, said by phone from New York on Jan. 16. “The ironic part is that many of the state-owned companies are under sanctions and are already cut out of the foreign markets, so they couldn’t refinance their debt anyway.”"



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