Fitch Ratings said on January 27 that lower prices of commodities and hike of US dollar were great challenges for emerging countries and could increase pressure on credit ratings in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America in 2016.

“If you look at the negative outlooks that are in place today there is a disproportionate number of them that are accounted for emerging markets that are not exporters of commodities,” Fitch’s chief of rating division, James McCormack, said during a press conference. “Regionally that leads to Middle East, Africa and secondarily to Latin America. So that is where we expect to see continued downward pressure on ratings in 2016,” he added.

On March 4, 2016, Fitch Ratings will be releasing its new evaluation of the sovereign risk in Namibia and Tunisia.