Moody’s downgrades foreign currency credit rating

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - The United States-based rating agency, Moody’s Investor Services has cut Jamaica's sovereign foreign currency credit rating to Caa3 from B3, citing the recent domestic debt exchange as a distressed event that still leaves the country with a high debt burden. Last month, Jamaica launched a National Debt Exchange (NDX) to alleviate the financing pressures of its sizeable debt load. In a statement on Wednesday, Moody's outlined the reason for the downgrade, stating Jamaica's still high debt burden remains unchanged since the announced restructuring did not impose any principal haircuts.