Global infrastructure and project finance downgrades in first half 2020 are more than three times higher than the total number of downgrades in 2019 and already have exceeded the previous annual high of 58 downgrades following the Great Recession, according to Fitch Ratings.
Through the first six months of 2020, there were 62 infrastructure downgrades due to the economic recession as a result of the coronavirus and related shutdowns. Of these 62, 15 investment-grade credits were downgraded to non-investment grade.
Fitch's latest annual ratings performance report, the “Global Infrastructure and Project Finance 2019 Transition and Default Study,” showed infrastructure downgrades remained below 20 for each of the past five years, totaling 19 in 2019. Downgrades so far this year were overwhelmingly related t
