Corporate defaults could reach 10%

Chemical company CFOs need to step up their monitoring of customers’ creditworthiness. That’s the clear message today from ratings agency Moody’s, who report that corporate defaults are rising sharply.
According to Moody’s Director, Kenneth Emery, ‘the pace of corporate defaults increased considerably in July as economic conditions weakened and more companies experienced financial distress. Under our baseline model forecast scenario, the global default rate is expected to climb sharply over the next twelve months to 6.3%, while it could reach 10% in a downside scenario of a protracted U.S. recession.’