Moody’s Downgrades #Oman for a Second Time in 2020 as Oil Dips - Bloomberg

Moody’s Downgrades Oman for a Second Time in 2020 as Oil Dips - Bloomberg:

Oman’s sovereign rating was cut for a second time this year by Moody’s Investors Service as a lower crude price environment will likely slash the Gulf nation’s oil revenue.

The rating company downgraded the sovereign a notch lower to Ba3 -- three levels into its non-investment grade scale, and changed its outlook to negative, according to a statement Tuesday. In March, Moody’s put Oman on review for the downgrade, saying the country’s low fiscal strength will likely place pressure on its finances. Its assessment is now on par with S&P Global Ratings and one level below that of Fitch Ratings.

“The downgrade reflects the conclusion that in a lower oil price environment, which Moody’s now assumes will persist into the medium term, the government will unlikely be able to significantly offset the oil revenue loss and avoid a large and durable deterioration in its debt and debt affordability metrics or erosion of its fiscal and foreign currency buffers,” according to the statement.