An international finance magazine ranked Antigua and Barbuda as the worst country in the Caribbean for banking, a listing that has prompted concern and a government investigation in the country.
The June 7 survey by the magazine Euromoney measured the political and economic stability of countries around the world, ranking the nation 178th on a list of 187 countries. The country also received a country risk rating of 9.3 out of a possible 100, lower than Haiti’s 21.64 and Cuba’s 14.31. The Virgin Islands and other overseas territories were not ranked.
Days after the survey was published, Antigua and Barbuda’s leaders called for an investigation of the rating and the methodology used. Harold Lovell, the country’s finance minister, asked for the country’s banking overseer, the Financial Services Regulatory Commission, to investigate the claim. Euromoney did not list specific reasons for the country’s ranking.
See the June 30, 2011 edition for full coverage.