Fitch Affirms Venezuela's Ratings at 'CCC'

Venezuela's ratings reflect the sovereign's weakened external buffers, high commodity dependence, rising macroeconomic distortions, reduced transparency in official data, and continued policy and political uncertainty. The sovereign's strong repayment record and a relatively low debt amortization profile mitigate imminent risks to debt service. In spite of monetization of FX assets, international reserves have declined by USD5.7 billion since the beginning of the year to USD16.4 billion, their lowest level since 2003. The external liquidity ratio, at 67%, remains substantially below peers. Moreover, operational liquidity of international reserves is constrained, as 72% are held in gold and most of these are held at Venezuela's central bank. More…