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Nation News
Monday, December 18, 2017 Monday, December 18, 2017 |
NEW YORK (Nation News) – The US-based credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), has affirmed The Bahamas’ sovereign credit rating while continuing to ascribe a “stable” long-term outlook to the Caribbean country due to the new government’s “solid mandate to facilitate economic and debt stabilization”.
In its statement, S&P gave the Bahamas’ sovereign credit rating as BB+/B, saying it reflects its expectation of robust political institutions to “anchor fiscal consolidation” and higher, although still low, economic growth over the next one to two years — another positive sign for the Bahamas as it avoided blacklisting from the European Union.’
But the rating agency warned that it could lower its rating over the next two years if public finances do not improve as quickly as expected, which could result from stagnant economic growth, external shocks or “weakened political commitment.
“The lack of confidence that this may generate could push debt costs higher, leading to a downgrade. Conversely, we could raise the rating over the same timeframe if the government reduces the annual increase in general government debt beyond our expectations. This, combined with significantly higher economic growth forecasts, could lead to an upgrade.”true
This is an excerpt from Nation News as it appeared on December 18, 2017. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.
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