Belize To Restructure Debt

Belize is to restructure its foreign debt and will likely swap its existing bonds and commercial loans for a single, amortizing bond by the end of this year. Currently, the country has six outstanding international bonds totaling $338 million, with most held by a group of no more than 30 creditors. It also owes $253 million in commercial loans. Of Belize’s total $1.1 billion debt burden, only $116 million is accounted for by domestic debt. Multilateral and bilateral loans account for $371 million. Last month ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Belize foreign currency credit rating from CCC- to CC, just two notches above a default rating.