OREANDA-NEWS. December 14, 2015. The credit quality of Colombian corporates remains resilient despite a slowdown in the economy, according to Fitch Ratings' Colombian Corporate outlook report for 2016.

Fitch's portfolio of international-rated Colombian Corporates is performing well despite challenging economic conditions. Only Pacific Exploration and Production Corp. and Avianca have negative ratings biases.

The economic downturn, along with relatively high inflation and high interest rates, constitutes a challenging scenario for corporates in 2016. In addition, with the onset of the El Nino phenomenon, Fitch expects a marginal EBITDA impact on international-rated electric generation companies.

The significant local currency depreciation in the last 12 months has been neutral to negative for Fitch-rated Colombian corporates. From the balance sheet perspective, companies have modest exposure to FX debt given the still-ample availability of financing in the local market.

The full outlook report is available on the Fitch web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.