The Republic of Suriname has reached an agreement with the U.S. government to regularize Suriname's last remaining bilateral debt that was in arrears with the United States under the GSM-102 Export Credit Guarantee Program. We raised our long-term foreign currency rating on the country to 'BB-' from 'B+'. The stable outlook takes into account the country's improved debt management, offset by its ongoing governmental institutional capacity constraints. On Aug. 19, 2011, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its long-term foreign currency rating on the Republic of Suriname to 'BB-' from 'B+'. At the same time, we raised the transfer and convertability assessment to 'BB' from 'BB-' and affirmed the 'BB-' local currency rating. The outlook on the ratings is stable.
