The number of corporate defaults globally is set to fall from already historically low levels in 2014, thanks to an improving US economy and continuing stabilisation in the eurozone, Moody's said on Tuesday. According to the ratings agency's 27th annual default study, 66 Moody's-rated corporate issuers defaulted in 2013, up from 63 in 2012. This year, however, robust economic growth is set to compress the number, with the speculative-grade default rate reaching just 2.2%, undercutting the long-term average of 4.7% since 1983, and also down from 2.9% in 2013 and 2012. "With the US economic condition gradually improving and the sovereign debt crisis easing in Europe, the global economy is now navigating towards calmer waters," Moody's senior analyst Sharon Ou wrote in the study.
展开▼
