NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Aug. 20, 2003--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered its long-term local currency sovereign credit rating on Barbados to 'A+' from 'AA-', and its short-term local currency sovereign credit rating to 'A-1' from 'A-1+'. The 'A-' long-term and 'A-2' short-term foreign currency sovereign credit ratings remained unchanged. The outlook on both the local and foreign currency long-term ratings was revised to negative from stable. According to credit analyst Richard Francis, the downgrade reflects the higher fiscal deficits and debt burden the government has incurred over the past few years. "Given the fact that Barbados lacks the cushion of a deep domestic capital market and maintains fixed parity with the U.S. dollar, the
