S&P Rating Upgraded from Stable to Positive – Press Release, Government Press Office, Belmopan, November 10, 2014 – In a report released by Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) on Friday, November 7, 2014, Belize’s ‘B-/B’ sovereign credit rating was affirmed and its outlook upgraded to positive from stable.
The company attributed this change to the new $140 million investment in “sugar and nontraditional agricultural products” stating that the country’s economic growth prospects are increasing and “will likely improve Belize’s external liquidity.”
The report further states that a boost in productivity and export volumes can result from growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Belize’s export sector; and will likely reduce the country’s current account deficit. Additionally, the report credits the government’s effort to actively strategize payment of “external obligations related to the nationalization of two utilities by using deposits financed by the PetroCaribe initiative.”
Caribbean Home and Export, Ltd. (photo by Wally Sears, Invest Belize Magazine)
Standard and Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) is a leading provider of credit ratings, research and analytics. Belize’s sovereign creditworthiness was assessed and scored on five key rating factors, on a scale ranging from 1 (strongest) to 6 (weakest):
i. Institutional and governance effectiveness;
ii. Economic structure and growth prospects;
iii. External liquidity and international investment position;
iv. The average of government debt burden and fiscal flexibility and fiscal performance and;
v. Monetary flexibility.
The company is credited for its vital role in creating transparency and comparability within financial markets worldwide.
