Standard & Poor’s, the international rating agency, has affirmed Trinidad and Tobago’s BBB-credit rating, with a stable outlook.
In a statement on Wednesday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said this is a positive development, noting Trinidad and Tobago is one of the few investment grade countries within the Latin America and Caribbean region, and in fact, the only one in the Caribbean.
Imbert added that while the credit rating had a negative outlook up to July of last year, Trinidad and Tobago’s economic and financial performance along with its institutional stability helped to stabilise the outlook thereafter.
The finance minister added: “Overall S&P acknowledges the prudent management of an economy faced with external shocks: supporting the economy and the population in difficult times, and conservatively replenishing external buffers and lowering public debt in better times. Those are the attributes of investment grade countries, and the condition for affordable financing looking forward.”