CariCRIS upgrades the ratings of the Government of Anguilla by one notch to CariA- (Foreign and Local Currency); Outlook is Stable.

Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) has upgraded by one notch the ratings of the notional debt of USD 25 million of the Government of Anguilla (GOA) to CariA- (Foreign and Local Currency) on the regional rating scale. These ratings include a 6-notch uplift for the high likelihood of support from the United Kingdom (UK). The notched-up regional scale ratings indicate that the level of creditworthiness of this obligation, adjudged in relation to other obligations in the Caribbean is good.

The ratings are driven by the following strengths: (1) support from the UK Government as an Overseas Territory, (2) the rebuilding of the economy and infrastructure continues following the passage of Hurricane Irma and there remains robust flows of capital investments, particularly towards tourism, and (3) Anguilla’s fiscal performance remains carefully managed to control debt accumulation and improved debt servicing capacity. These rating strengths are tempered by the following factors: (1) Anguilla is a small island developing state with significant capacity constraints, (2)there continues to be breach of the Territory’s debt management benchmarks, notwithstanding improvements, and (3) Anguilla’s financial sector is characterized by high non-performing loans and low capitalization levels.

The stable outlook is based on the strong fiscal and debt management support from the United Kingdom, in addition to the ongoing satisfactory recovery path following the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the tourism industry and wider economic activity.

You can download the full articale here CariCRIS Rating Release.