Business

USVI Garvee Bonds Outlook Revised to Stable From Negative by Standard and Poor's

The Standard and Poor's Global Ratings revised its outlook to stable from negative and affirmed its 'A' rating on the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority's (PFA) outstanding grant anticipation revenue (GARVEE) bonds. The GARVEE bonds were secured in December, 2015 and provided $91 million of proceeds for critical highway infrastructure projects, including $40 million allocated to Veterans Drive Highway on St. Thomas and $51 million directed to fund key initiatives on St. Croix, one of which is the Melvin Evans Highway.   Back then, Standards & Poor’s rating services assigned an “A” rating with a stable outlook for the bonds — at the time the highest rating of any bonding program offered by the PFA. The latest revision, made public on December 12, followed a negative outlook that was assigned to the GARVEE bonds following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which devastated the territory in 2017. "The outlook revision reflects our assessment of the availability of VIPFA's Transportation T...