Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services Revises Jamaica Government Bond Rating

On March 18, 2009, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered Jamaica’s long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Jamaica to ‘B-‘ from ‘B’, one notch down in the rating scale. The short term debt was also lowered one notch down from ‘B’ to ‘C’. However, the recovery rating of ‘4’ and the negative outlook remained unchanged. Simultaneously, the transfer and convertibility assessment on Jamaica was lowered to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-‘.
The downgrade reflects Standard & Poor’s heightened concerns about the deteriorating economic situation and its increasing spillover into Jamaica’s fiscal and external accounts. The negative outlook reflects the increasing risk of a downgrade should the policy actions fail to contain the ongoing fiscal and external deterioration.
The Government of Jamaica is aware of the fiscal and external challenges and has been taking initiatives, which will be intensified in the upcoming Budget, to contain and improve the overall economic fundamentals of Jamaica.