Global ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has maintained its BBB+ rating for the Turks and Caicos Islands. Most notably S & P has revised its outlook on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to positive from stable. This announcement was made on Wednesday 28th June 2017.
This is TCI's fourth consecutive year with such a strong grading. A team from S&P made the annual visit to the islands in June and met with a range of officials, from the various sectors within TCI, as part of the review process.
Turks & Caicos Islands Premier, Hon. Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson stated; "For the last three consecutive assessments of the TCI's sovereign rating, tremendous work has been undertaken and completed in relation to the retirement of the TCI $170m bond, the establishment of a National Wealth Fund, the achievement of all the indicators outlined in the Public Finance Management Framework and also an increase in the statistical data supplied to S&P to accommodate the assessment. For this I must commend the previous administration and the various TCIG departments involved in the process.
"However, in the past TCI has sustained BBB+ rating, today I am pleased to announce the outlook has been favorably adjusted from Stable to Positive. The current assessment of the Turks and Caicos Islands sovereign rating is a clear indication of the continued economic growth within the islands and also an indication of S&P and TCI residents' confidence in my Government's mandate.
"My Government will ensure that the required positive and sustainable injections into the TCI economy continues. In particular the required public and private sector reforms and the necessary funding is allocated to improve TCI's infrastructure"
The S&P report commented on the continued strong performance of the TCI economy; "Following several years of strong performance, TCI's economy will, we expect, steadily strengthen over the next three years. Growth in the territory will come primarily from continued recovery in its largest visitor market, the U.S., as well as growth in public spending. We anticipate these trends will contribute to GDP per capita that will reach $25,753 in 2017. However, TCI's growth prospects remain subject to volatility because more than half of GDP comes from tourism, which is cyclical and vulnerable to external shocks."
The BBB+ rating is a strong factor in attracting foreign direct investment to TCI and building confidence amongst its existing business community.
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