Reliefs won’t offset telcos’ unpaid dues: Fitch

NEW DELHI: The credit rating agency Fitch Friday assigned a negative outlook to the telecom sector for 2020 despite the government’s granting a 2-year moratorium on spectrum payments, and added that reliefs would not offset dues.

“Fitch has a negative outlook on the sector for 2020 primarily due to heightened financial risk associated with the large unpaid AGR-related dues,” the New York-based firm in a statement said.

The Cabinet has on Wednesday deferred spectrum payments to two years providing interim relief of Rs 42,000 crore to the industry, following the Supreme Court ruling asking telecom companies to pay dues within the three months.