Credit rating hit yet again

BARBADOS HAS TAKEN another hit to its international credit rating with the news last night that a regionally based rating agency had lowered the country’s rating a notch.
Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) lowered its ratings on the debt issue of US$300 million (BDS$600 million) of the Barbados Government to CariA+ (foreign currency rating) and CariAA- on its local currency rating and CariAA on the regional scale.
The company blamed the island’s anaemic growth numbers in 2012 and expectations of another flat performance in 2013 for the lower rating.
The Trinidad and Tobago-based rating agency assigned a rating of “good” on the level of creditworthiness on the US$300 million obligation, adjudged in relation to other obligations in the Caribbean. (GE)