[中英翻譯練習]Laos's growing default risk 老撾債務違約風險上升

Laos is struggling with acute fuel shortages, rising food prices and growing debt, making it the latest Asian country after Sri Lanka to come under serious financial strain after a surge in global energy and commodity prices.

Moody’s Investor Service on Wednesday downgraded the landlocked, communist-ruled country’s sovereign debt rating one notch further into non-investment grade, or “junk” territory, to Caa3 from Caa2.

The rating agency said Laos’s default risk would “remain high given very weak governance, a very high debt burden and insufficient coverage of external debt maturities” by foreign exchange reserves.

“In the face of narrowing financing options, even to meet limited financing needs, Laos’s reliance on external and domestic commercial financing will increase, resulting in higher exposure to market sentiment,” Moody’s said.

Laos was already having trouble paying its bills before the recent surge in global food and energy prices precipitated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and western countries imposing sanctions on Moscow in response.

老撾正艱難面對嚴重燃料短缺，食品價格上升和負債增加的問題，成為繼斯里蘭卡後首個因全球能源和大宗商品價格急升而面臨嚴重財政壓力的亞洲國家。

穆迪投資服務公司（Moody’s Investor Service）與星期三將這個由共產黨統治的內陸國家的主權信貸評級下調一級，從投機級別（又稱「垃圾級別」）中的Caa3等降至Caa2等。

評級機構表示由於老撾的政府管治能力非常弱，債務負擔重，而且沒有足夠外匯儲備償還到期外債，故其違約風險仍然很高。

穆迪投資服務公司又指出，老撾面對不斷減少的融資選擇，即使能滿足其融資需求，但卻會增加老撾對國外和國內商業融資的依賴，讓其更易受市場情緒波動的影響。

俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭，加上西方國家對俄羅斯政府實施制裁，導致全球食品和能源價格急劇上升，但此前，老撾早已難以支付國家支出。