RECENT CREDIT RATING DOWNGRADES and Government’s fiscal problems are threatening the ratings of Barbados’ $3.24 billion insurance industry.
A.M. Best, the world’s oldest insurance rating agency, yesterday warned that the danger was real.
The United States-based entity’s public relations manager Chris Sharkey told the WEEKEND NATION that A.M. Best’s recent decision to place the credit ratings of Sagicor Financial Corp. Limited (SFC) and its subsidiaries “under review with negative implications” was “a recent rating action where the situation in Barbados was a factor”.
“Barbados’ sovereign ratings have come under significant pressure in recent years due to increased Government debt, reduced financing options, minimal fiscal reforms, and limited monetary policy options,” A.M. Best said in a March 31 briefing on Barbados. (SC)
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