Slovenia Rating Cut to Junk by Moody’s as Bond Sale Delayed
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Slovenia’s credit rating was cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service, forcing the government to delay its first international bond sale this year, intended to to ease a financing crunch and avoid an international bailout.
The Finance Ministry yesterday postponed an offering of dollar-denominated benchmark bonds before the rating was lowered two levels to Ba1 from Baa2, on par with Turkey, and given a negative outlook. Five members of the 17-nation euro area are now rated junk by Moody’s. Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings both assess Slovenia at A-, the fourth-lowest investment grade.