Global Agencies Downgrade Ethiopia's Credit Rating

Global credit rating agencies S&P, Fitch, and Moody's have updated their assessments regarding Ethiopia's debt obligations as of March 2025. S&P has downgraded Ethiopia's foreign-currency debt to 'Selective Default' (SD) while slightly upgrading the local-currency debt rating from CCC to CCC+. Fitch Ratings classified the country's debt as 'Restricted Default' (RD) following a missed 33 million dollar interest payment on its one-billion-dollar Eurobond. This downgrade occurred after the expiration of the mandatory 14-day grace period. Additionally, Moody's maintains ratings of Caa2 for local-currency debt and Caa3 for foreign-currency debt, reflecting continued concerns over the nation's fiscal stability.