Moody's on April 29 downgraded Gabon's government bond andissuer ratings to B1 from Ba3, with a negative outlook.

The downgrade was driven by Gabon's increased governmentliquidity risk and Moody's expectation that the country's government finances willcontinue to deteriorate in 2016 and will only stabilize afterwards.

The negative outlook reflects the uncertainty related to thegovernment's medium-term financing.

The country and deposit ceilings were lowered to Ba1 fromBaa3.

The ratings action concludes the review for downgrade initiated March 4.