International Finance Magazine Increases Barbados' Credit Rating

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

30 September 2002

In a bi-annual global review, conducted by prominent international finance magazine, Institutional Investor, Barbados has been awarded the honour of being one of the countries with the best 'one year record' in terms of increases in its global credit ratings.

The publication recently increased the jurisdiction's credit rating by four points from March 2002, and by six points from September 2001, giving it an overall Institutional Investor rating of 58.8 out of a possible 100, a figure which puts Barbados in 43rd position (up from 47th in March).

The local media has welcomed the news, with the Barbados Daily Nation proudly reporting that:

'Barbados may be feeling the effects of the global economic recession and the fall-out from the events of September 11 in the United States, but its credit rating continues to soar...Of the 151 nations surveyed by senior economists and sovereign risk analysts at the leading global banks and money management and securities firms, Barbados was fourth on the list of countries with the best 'one year record' when it came to the size of the increase in their ratings.'

Other performances of note from the Caricom region in the Institutional Investor review included Grenada, which saw its rating increase by more than ten points, and Belize, which moved from 73rd position to 65th over a six month period.

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