BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has welcomed the Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘AA+’ with a Stable Outlook issued by the US-based agency Fitch Ratings.
In its rating action commentary, Fitch said that “CDB’s ‘AA+’ Long-Term IDR reflects its Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) of ‘aa+’, underpinned by liquidity and solvency assessments of ‘aaa’ and ‘aa+’, respectively.
“This affirmation from Fitch is a powerful validation of our ‘Rebirth’ Vision and strategic pivot toward aggressive financial innovation,” said CDB President Daniel M. Best.
“By maintaining ‘excellent’ capitalization and executing landmark initiatives like our Exposure Exchange Agreement, we are supporting Caribbean resilience. The ‘AA+’ rating ensures that CDB remains a formidable engine for sustainable development, capable of securing the low-cost capital our member countries need to thrive in an uncertain global climate,” he added.
Fitch Ratings cited CDB’s “excellent capitalisation” as a key rating driver noting that “at end-September 2025, Fitch’s usable capital/risk-weighted assets (FRA) ratio was 78 per cent, well above the 35 per cent threshold for an ‘excellent’ assessment, and the equity/adjusted assets and guarantees ratio was 46 per cent, comfortably above the 25 per cent threshold for an ‘excellent’ assessment.
“These metrics are strong relative to peers, which highlights the resilience of the bank’s capitalisation, supported by its strong loan performance”.
Fitch said that other main drivers are CDB’s “‘ low’ credit risk”, with Fitch assessing the bank’s preferred creditor status as ‘excellent’; and its “very high liquidity”, which was ranked at ‘aaa’ “due to ‘excellent’ liquidity buffers and the ‘excellent’ credit quality of the treasury portfolio”.
Fitch also referred to the historic US$450 million Exposure Exchange Agreement the CDB executed with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) in May 2025, stating that the new arrangement, which reduced the bank’s top five borrower concentration, is responsible for improving its concentration assessment to ‘low’ from ‘moderate’.
The rating agency also indicated that CDB’s Special Development Fund, which is delinked from its credit profile, reduces the risk of any unexpected, negative impact on the bank’s ordinary capital resources balance sheet while maintaining its capacity to provide concessional resources to the poorest member countries in the Caribbean.
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