Bridgetown.
Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler is not surprise that the international credit rating agency, Moody's Investors Service has relegated Barbados' credit rating to junk status.
On Thursday night, Moody Investors Service announced that it had lower Barbados foreign and local bond ratings to Ba1 from Baa3, while maining that the economic outlook was negative.
Sinckler in a statement said the the ratings by Moody's Investors Service comes as no surprise to the Ministry of Finance and the Government as a whole.
He said it was generally expected that since Standard & Poors had made their adjustment to the island's credit rating some months ago, it was likely that Moody's would align their rating accordingly.
"Naturally, the continued weak global economic recovery, particularly among our largest trading partners, in the USA, the UK and most of CARICOM has worked to compound the negativity of an already difficult economic situation, which heavily undermined Barbados prospects for a speed recovery in growth. And in spite of what we have heard and will continue to hear, the knock on effects of this environment on our fiscal and economic situation remain clear and unmistakable", Sinckler said.
