IF the regional Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) was in school, it would be graduating with all A’s: Aa1 Stable by Moody’s; AA+ Stable by Standard & Poor’s, and AA+ Stable by Fitch Ratings.

Fitch, the latest to comment on the CDB’s performance, said last week: “CDB’s ‘AA+’ Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) reflects its Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) of ‘aa+’, underpinned by liquidity and solvency assessments of ‘aaa’ and ‘aa+’, respectively.”

The language might be technical and over the heads of ordinary readers, but, put more simply, the international rating agency is applauding the CDB’s “excellent capitalisation… supported by its strong loan performance”.

“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,” the press statement from CDB said.

Fitch referred to the historic US$450-million Exposure Exchange Agreement that the bank executed with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) in May last year, noting that the new arrangement was 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”.

The 56-year-old CDB oversees total assets of US$2.02 billion as at December 31, 2024, and manages US$1.40 billion of Special Funds Resources. The bank can be justly proud of its handling of the critical resources that the 19 borrower members, including Jamaica, rely on.

We in this space are not just lauding the CDB for its significant support of Jamaica over the years, but we admit that the bank has done well by our country, as we have noted before. We note the latest initiative to assist Jamaican farmers which was announced yesterday.

The bank has just launched the Matching Grant Scheme (MGS) in tandem with the Government of Jamaica, under which farmers, particularly women, youth, and vulnerable groups, will soon gain improved access to financing for expansion of their agri-business ventures through investment.

The MGS forms part of the Southern Plains Agricultural Development Project, which is financed by a £16.7 million grant from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Programme administered by the CDB, in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.

Notably, it will strengthen agricultural conditions across 795 hectares in Parnassus and Amity Hall by building resilient production and marketing systems, and seeks to develop off-farm irrigation, drainage, farm roads, and support facilities. In addition, it will address long-standing challenges such as climate variability, water scarcity, rising input costs, and limited market access.

We give the last word to CDB President Mr Daniel M Best: “The ‘AA+’ rating by Fitch 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.”