Fitch downgrades Pemex debt rating

Mexico City: The financial assessment agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Mexico state oil company Mexican Petroleum (Pemex) from BBB- to BB+ on Thursday, while Moody´s revised its outlook rating from stable to negative.BB+ is considered a junk rating because of the struggling company´s heightened risk of not paying its debt.

In a statement Fitch said, "Fitch Ratings has downgraded Petroleos Mexicanos´ (PEMEX) Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to ´BB+´ from ´BBB-´. The Rating Outlook is Negative" due to Pemex´s approximately $80 billion of unpaid debt.

Pemex, which President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has set out to save as it struggles with ongoing losses, is Mexico´s largest public employer.

The BB+ rating is given to non-investment grade and speculative bonds known as "junk bonds" -- they have a high risk of default but offer a high profitability to compensate.

In a statement Thursday, Pemex called Fitch´s new rating "excessively severe."

The company defended its record over the last six months, saying it had made "strong achievements" not seen in many years, including fighting fuel theft and stabilizing oil production.

"With the commitment and solidarity of every worker of this great company and with the dedicated support of the government of the republic, we will continue dedicating our efforts toward achieving our goals and demonstrating, with results, we are on the right track," the statment said.