Africa-Press – Seychelles. Seychelles’ new Fitch rating of BB- with a positive outlook shows the island nation’s continued economic growth, a senior Finance Ministry official said on Wednesday.
The statement was made by the Principal Secretary for Finance, Astride Tamatave, during a press conference, following the release of the latest Fitch Ratings last Friday, upgrading Seychelles from BB- with stable outlook to BB- with positive outlook.
“This rating shows that Fitch Rating , as a credit rating agency, has become more optimistic about the future of Seychelles’ creditworthiness. It also shows that Seychelles’ various fiscal and monetary policies adopted by the Central Bank and the government after the COVID pandemic, to revive the economy, is working,” said Ms. Tamatave.
She explained that in 2023, Seychelles achieved a primary fiscal performance of 1.8 percent of GDP, with debt falling to 60.1 percent of GDP.
The ranking indicates that tourist arrivals and tourism revenue increased by 5.7 percent and 5.8 percent respectively in 2023, reflecting stabilization after increases of 82 percent and 59 percent in 2022.
Besides tourism, Ms. Tamatave said the information and communication technology sector contributed greatly to the economy in 2023, alongside fishing at 2.5 percent.
First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles, Brian Commettant, said this improvement in Seychelles’ Fitch rating can also be attributed to the increase in the country’s foreign exchange. In 2023, foreign exchange entering Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, increased by 5.8 percent.
“This also helped support the country’s reserves, which increased from $639 million in 2022 to $682 million in 2023, which is estimated to cover at least three months of imports,” he said. he added.
Despite the positive outlook from Fitch Ratings, the report notes that Seychelles remains susceptible to the impacts of climate change, with the island nation excessively vulnerable to the dangers posed by sea level rise, the effects of which are already visible mainly through an increase in storms of a frequency and intensity that renders certain coastal infrastructure unusable.
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