S&P Global Ratings has downgraded the SriLankan Airlines government guaranteed bond to ‘D’ from ‘CC’ after it failed to pay a coupon.
“The government of Sri Lanka, as guarantor, has also failed to make the coupon payment, upon the expiry of the 30-day grace period beginning Dec. 25, 2022,” S&P said.
“We lowered the issue ratings on the SLA 2024 bond to ‘D’ from ‘CC’ because both the issuer and government of Sri Lanka, as guarantor, missed a coupon payment of about US$6.1 million,” S&P said.
“This payment was originally due December 2022, and the grace period expired in January 2023.
“The bond, along with other international sovereign bonds (ISBs) that the government issued, will remain at ‘D’, pending the conclusion of current debt negotiations.
“Negotiations for the SLA bond may be separate from those on the government’s other ISBs. Our rating on all of these is ‘D’.”