LatinNews Daily - 30 May 2024

*The international credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded Peru’s state oil company Petroperú from ‘B+’ to ‘B’ and placed the company on its CreditWatch list with negative implications, indicating that a further downgrade may be in the pipeline. S&P attributed the downgrade to “the company’s fragile operational and financial conditions and US$2.2bn in support it has requested from the government,” which it said “comes after several years of support and persistent weakness in Petroperú as well as the announcement of an operational issue with the flexicoking unit at its Talara refinery”. S&P stated however that President Dina Boluarte’s administration is likely to “step in to avoid a default in the short term,” as “a default in the company would have material social, economic and reputational impacts for the Peruvian government”. The extent of Petroperú’s financial difficulties was highlighted earlier this month when the company’s executive board requested it to be placed under private management. The request was rejected by the government.