Good to see you again. Glad you enjoy the Limes.Long-Term Ratings On The Commonwealth of the Bahamas Lowered To ‘BBB+’; Outlook Stable The Bahamas’ fiscal position has deteriorated, as the government has increased spending while its narrow revenue base has declined amid economic recession. This has led to a rise in general government debt, and [...]
Hot on the heels of the decision by Standard & Poor’s to slash Jamaica’s sovereign rating comes this announcement from the rating agency: S&P: National Commercial Bank Jamaica Counterparty Credit Rating Lowered To ‘CCC’; Survivability Assessment Lowered To ‘B’ * On Nov. 2, 2009, we lowered the long-term sovereign rating on Jamaica to ‘CCC’ from [...]
Can’t say you weren’t warned, but this is still a serious blow to Jamaica. From rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Monday, highlighting mine: Jamaica Long-Term Ratings Lowered One Notch To ‘CCC’, Outlook Negative – Jamaica’s Central bank governor, who was the lead negotiator on a possible standby facility from the IMF, has resigned. – [...]
Short note from rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Republic Bank (highlighting mine): S&P: Republic Bank Ltd. Counterparty Credit Ratings Affirmed At ‘BBB-/A-3′ With Stable Outlook * The bank’s financial performance has been stable through a period of tough economic conditions in the Caribbean region. * We are affirming the ‘BBB-/A-3′ counterparty credit ratings on [...]
This is bad. S&P had previously assigned a rating of B- to Jamaica. In financial parlance, a B- rating sovereign rating suggests that the country is perceived as “high risk” by would-be lenders; in a word, “junk”. By downgrading Jamaica to triple-C, S&P is saying the island is ” currently vulnerable and dependent on favorable [...]