AKIPRESS.COM - The Republic of Congo is in default on its international debts after missing an interest payment on $478m of bonds due at the end of June, as the oil price collapse claimed another victim, FTreports.

The African country – more commonly known as Congo-Brazzeville to differentiate it from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo – missed the interest payment due on June 30, and the grace period ran out at the end of July, S&P said in a statement on Tuesday, reports Robin Wigglesworth in New York.

The yield on the bond, which was issued as part of a restructuring of its London Club debts in 2007, has climbed to 9.5 per cent, according to Bloomberg data. The rating agency didn’t go into why Congo defaulted, but the country depends heavily on its oil exports, and the price of crude has plummeted in recent years.

The latest report by the International Monetary Fund – published in September last year – noted that the Republic of Congo “has been hit hard by the oil price shock”. In 2014 oil revenues accounted for almost 70 per cent of the government’s total revenues.

In its statement on the default S&P said: "If and when the Republic of Congo cures the payment default on the notes, we will revise our ratings on the sovereign depending on our assessment of residual litigation risk, access to international debt markets, and the sovereign’s overall credit profile."