Fitch Teleconference: Colombia's Positive Outlook, Tomorrow @ 10AM ET.

NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings will host a teleconference tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. EST to discuss its Rating Outlook revision on Colombia's 'BB' long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Positive from Stable.

The Rating Outlook revision is based on improvements in key public and external solvency indicators over the past two years and the expectation that recent trends will improve going forward, albeit more slowly. Authorities have taken advantage of a favorable external environment to reduce the vulnerability of public debt to exchange rate risk. Most public and external debt ratios are still generally above peers, though, so Fitch's assessment that Colombia's creditworthiness is trending toward 'BB+' therefore rests on a superior qualitative assessment of debt tolerance and credibility. Following his coalition's strong showing in the recent congressional elections and his own sweeping victory in the presidential elections, President Uribe now has a solid mandate which should bode well for economic growth and fiscal management.

An upgrade of the long-term foreign currency IDR to 'BB+' would be supported by passage in Congress of the preliminary economic agenda, including a free-trade agreement with the US. Because broad support for the FTA in the US Congress is not yet secure, its fate in Washington will also be considered. Should the Colombian administration choose to take advantage of its strong electoral mandate to include another round of pension reform among its economic priorities, this would be particularly beneficial for the credit because shortfalls in the retirement program are a key source of fiscal weakness. Positive momentum in the credit could stall or reverse if the government fails to gain passage of its economic agenda or if confidence deteriorates significantly. A sharp deterioration in global risk appetite could also have adverse effects on Colombia's creditworthiness because of its higher than average external financing requirements.

To participate in the teleconference, U.S. and Canadian participants should call [phone]; Latin American and other international participants should dial [phone] five minutes prior to the 10:00 a.m. EST start time and give the title of the call 'Colombia Positive Outlook,' or the call leader name 'Morgan Harting.' To ensure that sufficient telephone lines are available for all companies, use internal conferencing capabilities if available.

Interested parties who are not available for the teleconference will be able to hear a replay of the call starting Tuesday, June 6, at 11:00 a.m. EST until June 13 at 11:59 p.m. EST. U.S. and Canadian listeners should dial [phone]; Latin American and other international listeners should dial [phone]. For the replay, you must use the Reference Number '189078'.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.