Fitch rates Dominican Republic’s 2026 peso notes and 2049 USD bonds ‘BB-‘

Press Release

Fitch Ratings – New York – 30 May 2019: Fitch Ratings has assigned a ‘BB-‘ rating to Dominican Republic’s DOP50.523 billion notes (equivalent to USD1 billion), maturing 2026 and to the USD1.5 billion bonds maturing 2049.

The DOP notes are denominated in Dominican pesos, pay principal and interest in U.S. dollars, and carry a coupon of 9.75%. The USD bonds carry a yield to maturity of 6.492%.

Proceeds from the issuance will be used for general purposes of the government, including the partial financing of the 2019 budget.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The bond ratings are in line with Dominican Republic’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default (IDR) of ‘BB-‘.

As per Fitch’s Sovereign Criteria, a bond issued in local currency and payable in foreign currency is assigned an issue rating at the level of the Long-Term Foreign Currency IDR.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

The bonds are sensitive to any change in Dominican Republic’s Long-Term Foreign Currency IDR. Fitch affirmed Dominican Republic’s Long-Term Foreign Currency IDR at ‘BB-‘ with a Stable Outlook on Sept. 20, 2018.

DATE OF RELEVANT COMMITTEE

19-Sep-2018