TEXT - S&P report on similar credit risks of Caribbean and eurozone

(The following statement was released by the rating agency)

May 21 - Standard & Poor' Ratings Services analyses similarities and differences between credit risks of the peripheral eurozone sovereigns and their Caribbean counterparts in the article recently published titled "Europe's Financial Woes Can Offer Lessons For The Caribbean Region."

"We aim to draw preliminary lessons from Europe's recent economic turmoil. The analysis of how various Caribbean and European sovereigns respond to the adverse shocks presents an opportunity to learn about different policy choices, successes and failures, and draw lessons on how to minimize future crisis contagions," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Olga Kalinina.

The article analyzes the risks of structural weaknesses, competitiveness gaps, importance of decision making timeliness, dangers of "capital flow bonanzas," contagion risk from contingent liabilities, the importance of fiscal discipline, especially in the setting of the monetary union, and the need for a joint response and integrated policymaking to withstand future economic shocks. (Caryn Trokie, New York Ratings Unit)