IMF backs Sri Lankan 'dialogue' amid downgrade

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday said that it supported Sri Lanka’s plans to engage in “collaborative dialogue” with creditors, a day after the country unilaterally suspended external debt payments amid a severe economic crisis.

Fitch Ratings said it has downgraded Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) to ‘C’ from ‘CC’. Fitch said long-term local-currency IDR has been affirmed at ‘CCC’ and country ceiling at ‘B minus’, adding that issue ratings on foreign-currency bonds issued on international markets have also been downgraded to ‘C’ from ‘CC’.

Meanwhile global rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) today also lowered Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign currency sovereign rating from “CCC” to “CC” to reflect looming default on some affected obligations.