April 7 (Bloomberg) -- More than half of Latin American companies have “high exposure to funding risk” amid the global recession, Moody’s Investors Service said.

The region’s companies are struggling to refinance debt as the financial crisis reduces access to credit and slowing economic growth crimps earnings, Moody’s said in a report today. The number of Latin American companies whose ratings have negative outlooks or are on review for a downgrade has jumped to 23 percent from 10 percent in September, the New York-based company said.

“With more challenging capital markets and overall reduced risk appetite from investors and banks, risks related to liquidity and external funding needs have also increased, particularly as regional economies have slowed drastically over the last six months,” Moody’s analyst Alexander Carpenter wrote in the report.

Latin American companies will need to refinance almost $73 billion in the next two years, with $38 billion coming due in 2010 and $35 billion of obligations maturing in 2011, according to Moody’s. The region’s companies have $61 billion of debt that matures this year, Moody’s said.

The credit ratings of countries in Latin America may be hurt if there’s “a deterioration in the quality of the region’s financial systems,” Moody’s analyst Gabriel Torres wrote in a separate report today.

The economic slowdown in Latin America and the Caribbean may have “limited impact” on country ratings, Torres wrote. Growth in the region will weaken to 1 percent this year from 4 percent in 2008, he said.

“While our estimates for economic growth have dropped dramatically, we still see a limited ratings impact for the next 12 months -- as indicated by the fact that no Latin or Caribbean sovereign currently has a negative outlook,” said Torres.

To contact the reporter on this story: Renato Andrade in Sao Paulo at randrade11@bloomberg.net; Lester Pimentel in New York at lpimentel1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 7, 2009 14:18 EDT