Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s preeminent providers of credit ratings, has affirmed its ‘A-‘ long-term and ‘A-2′ short-term sovereign credit ratings on The Commonwealth of The Bahamas – characterizing the outlook as “stable”.
Credit analyst Olga Kalinina says this affirmation takes into account the damage inflicted by Hurricane Frances, which struck the island on Sept. 2-3, 2004. *”The ratings on The Bahamas incorporate the small island’s vulnerability to external events, including those that are weather related,”*said Mrs. Kalinina. She added, *”The Bahamas’ sound macroeconomic fundamentals and its moderate government debt burden provide a cushion to absorb the losses incurred as a result of the hurricane.”*
Mrs. Kalinina maintained that the hurricane is expected to have no impact on either the attractiveness or financial health of The Bahamas’ international financial or tourism sectors, the economy’s two main growth engines.