WINDS OF CHANGE SWEEPING OUT CARIBBEAN ADMINISTRATIONS, SAYS RATINGS AGENCY

NEW YORK, April 1, 2008 -- The political landscape in the Caribbean region has changed considerably over the past several months, making room for opposition parties and signifying an end to the often long-standing rule of the outgoing administrations, said Standard & Poor's Ratings Services in a commentary released Monday.

The article, entitled "Political Change Reflects Country-Risk Dynamics In The Caribbean," examines the importance of country-risk indicators in explaining the changing political winds in the region.

According to Standard & Poor's credit analyst Olga Kalinina, an overview of the trend in country-risk indicators over the past several years provides a useful illustration of the growth in popular dissatisfaction that ultimately resulted in the widespread shift in political power in the Caribbean region.

The article examines crime statistics, corruption perception index, governance indicators, and other socioeconomic variables and their influence on the electorate's preferences, as well as sovereign creditworthiness.

"Interestingly, socio-political trends correlate highly to changes in creditworthiness in the low speculative-grade rating category, which should come as no surprise," said Kalinina.

"Political factors, including the predictability and transparency of policymaking, are a prominent risk in speculative-grade countries. Therefore, any noticeable change, either upward or downward, in country-risk indicators is likely to cause a reassessment of the credit quality of these low-rated sovereigns," she concluded.