Moody's lifts Belize bonds to B3

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Belize's government bond ratings to B3 from Caa1 and the foreign-currency country ceiling for bonds to B1 from B2.

All other ratings remain unchanged, and the outlook is stable.

The agency said the upgrade reflects the improvement in debt metrics over the past couple of years, a marginal improvement in governance and the expectation that bilateral and multilateral financing will continue to provide sufficient support to help mitigate the negative impact of the global crisis.

Though declining, the size of the public debt, most of which is denominated in foreign currency, is still very large relative to the resources available to service it, Moody's said, which leaves policymakers with limited adjustment options in the face of the number of shocks that can affect Belize, whether domestic, external or weather-related.

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