Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness
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By Nakinskie Robinson
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has attributed the latest Fitch ratings outlook for Jamaica to his administration's sound handling of the country's fiscal policy.
Fitch Ratings has given Jamaica a Long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating of BB-.
Dr Holness says the rating is promising and reflects the progress being made in the country.
BB- is fifth out of 11 rankings on Fitch's scale with the highest credit quality being AAA and the lowest, D.
The rating indicates an elevated vulnerability to default risk but business or financial flexibility exists that supports the servicing of financial commitments.
Fitch says Jamaica's BB- rating reflects stronger governance than the peer median, significant progress with debt reduction, a sound fiscal framework and a strong political commitment to deliver large primary surpluses.
Dr Holness, speaking at the recent Diaspora Townhall 2025, said the government's fiscal agenda is centred on discipline to maintain the progress made over the years.
Fitch notes that the country's Debt-to-GDP has fallen to a forecast 70.8% in fiscal year 2024/2025 from a high of 135.3% of GDP in 2012/13.
But it says the rating remains constrained by deep structural weaknesses owing to a high crime rate, low productivity and weak demographics, as well as vulnerability to external shocks.
On the counter, the positive outlook reflects Fitch's expectation of continued improvement in debt metrics and further strengthening of the policy framework over the next few years, including climate risk mitigation.
It says Jamaica is on a declining Debt Trajectory and has a Stable Policy Framework, however, the monetary policy transmission mechanism is constrained by the high concentration of the banking system that passes policy rate moves to deposit and lending rates slowly.
Fitch Ratings, an American credit rating agency, is one of the Big Three credit rating agencies, which provides ratings, commentary and research for global capital markets.
The Prime Minister also said economic expansion remains among the top priorities, but the government must make the necessary adjustments to effect change.
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