Moody’s downgrades Barbados’ bond and issuer ratings

(Barbados Nation) Just short of a week after Standard & Poor’s lowered its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Barbados, Moody’s Investors Service, has followed suit.

Yesterday Moody’s revised the island’s government bond and issuer ratings to Caa3 but maintained a stable outlook. The ratings agency said its decision was based on the continued increase in government debt, very limited prospects of fiscal reform and the resulting “rising domestic and external financing pressures that are very likely to impair the government’s ability to service its debt”.

“Despite the government’s efforts to contain the fiscal deficit and alleviate pressures on foreign exchange reserves, the fiscal deficit remains large and credit risks have increased in Barbados.