December 13, 2012 - Fitch Ratings
Fitch Downgrades Tunisia to 'BB+', Outlook Negative
Fitch Ratings-London-12 December 2012: Fitch Ratings has downgraded Tunisia's Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'BB+' from 'BBB-' and Long-term local currency IDR to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'. The Outlooks on the IDRs are Negative. The agency has also downgraded Tunisia's Country Ceiling to 'BBB-' from 'BBB' and Short-term foreign currency IDR to 'B' from 'F3'.
RATING RATIONALE
The downgrade of Tunisia's sovereign ratings by one notch reflects the agency's view that the country's economic and political transition is proving longer and more difficult than anticipated and downside risks around the process have therefore increased. In addition large twin budget and current account deficits are leading to deteriorating public and external debt ratios.
