Standard & Poor’s (S&P) this week raised the short-term sovereign credit rating on Jamaica to “B” from “C.”

The ratings firm also affirmed its “B-” long-term foreign and local currency ratings, along with holding the country’s outlook at “negative.”

S&P said the increase in short-term rating was a result of the revision in criteria on the linkage between long-term and short-term ratings for sovereigns, according to Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Joydeep Mukherji.

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The ratings lift thus did “not reflect a change in Jamaica’s short-term credit prospects, it said.

“Jamaica’s narrow economic structure, large informal sector, and persistent fiscal and external deficits, which have led to heavy debt-service burdens, constrain our ratings on the country,” the firm said.

Jamaica’s general government debt could exceed 130 percent of GDP in the fiscal year 2012/2013, with a public sector deficit exceeding the government’s target of 4.5 percent of GDP.

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