S&P affirms #Oman ratings at BB/B with negative outlook | ZAWYA MENA Edition

S&P affirms Oman ratings at BB/B with negative outlook | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'BB/B' long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Oman and said the outlook was negative. 


S&P, the first of the major credit assessors to give Oman a non-investment grade, said that its “negative outlook reflects the risk that in the absence of substantial fiscal measures to curtail the government deficit, fiscal and external buffers will continue to erode.”

The global ratings agency said it could lower ratings on Oman in the next 6-12 months if the sultanate is unable to contain external debt accumulation related to still-sizable fiscal deficits, which S&P expect will continue to increase through 2022.