It is a good feeling for Barbadians to have this country’s credit rating receive a positive endorsement from FitchRatings, one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies. The affirmation is the kind of good news our economy requires at this time, even though the country is not out of the woods and it is still challenged on many fronts.Not long ago, ratings downgrades had become par for the course, with a former Prime Minister going so far as to suggest, Barbadians should not lose sleep over the downgrades.In November 2017, while addressing party faithful, PM Freundel Stuart dismissed the downgrades by international rating agencies, insisting that “Barbados as a country cannot be downgraded”.With the country facing its umpteenth downgrade, Stuart in his defiant style for which many citizens took umbrage, said Barbados “remained strong and continues to produce world class individuals”. This, while then opposition leader Mia Mottley made another of her many calls back then for general elections to be called.
