Guernsey's S&P rating reaffirmed

Tuesday 30 January 2018

Standard & Poor has released its latest credit ratings, giving Guernsey a AA- for the long term and A-1+ in the short term.

The report said the island has "strong and flexible institutions, a wealthy economy and a healthy fiscal position overall" but Brexit could cause concerns for the Bailiwick.

Commenting, Deputy Gavin St Pier said the report highlighted the island's resilience and the strength of it's financial institutions.

S&P Global Ratings have reaffirmed Guernsey’s credit ratings as AA- (long term) A-1+ (short term.) “We see Guernsey as having a healthy overall fiscal position...government has successfully restrained the growth of operational expenditure in the past 5 years.”

— Gavin St Pier (@gavinstpier) January 29, 2018

S&P revised Guernsey’s outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ but make clear doing so for external reasons such as Brexit and U.K. bank ring fencing. “Our ratings on Guernsey reflect our view of its strong and flexible institutions, wealthy economy, and considerable fiscal buffers.”

— Gavin St Pier (@gavinstpier) January 29, 2018

The President of Policy & Resources added that with the recent release of the Annual Independent Fiscal Policy Review, it was clear the island was in a strong financial position:

"The recent report from S&P Global highlights Guernsey’s flexibility and resilience. S&P revised the outlook for both Guernsey and Jersey from “stable” to “negative” but made it very clear that it did so as a result of external issues such as Brexit," he said.

"S&P reaffirmed Guernsey’s credit ratings as AA- (long term) and A-1+ (short term) and commented that the island has strong and flexible institutions, a wealthy economy and a healthy fiscal position overall. It added that government had successfully restrained the growth of public expenditure in the last five years.

"The revised outlook is a reflection of the continued uncertainty that everyone faces as a result of Brexit. However, our consistent engagement with the UK has put us in a strong position to take advantage of the opportunities that Brexit presents, with maintaining our current stability as a minimum. The recently released Annual Independent Fiscal Policy Review noted that Guernsey is managing its external economic risks ably and is a strong financial position".