Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on the Republic of Congo's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the IDRs at 'B+'. The issue ratings on the Republic of Congo's senior unsecured foreign and local currency bonds have also been affirmed at 'B+'. Fitch has affirmed the Republic of Congo's Short-term IDR at 'B' and the Country Ceiling at 'BBB-', in line with the Country Ceiling for the Communaute Economique et Monetaire de l'Afrique Centrale (CEMAC).

Further to the signing of a framework agreement in early May, Qatar Petroleum  International (QPI) is now a shareholder of Total E&P Congo, holding 15% of its capital.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned first-time Ba3 local and foreign-currency issuer ratings to the government of the Republic of the Congo. The outlook on the ratings is stable.