CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Oct. 14, 2009: Barbados may have gotten a high quality of living stamp but its bond rating was yesterday downgraded to the brink of junk.

Moody`s Investors Service on Tuesday lowered the Barbados government bond rating to the brink of junk territory, stating that the nation`s government debt has more than doubled. Barbados` bond rating was lowered to Baa3, or just one notch into investment grade.

Moody`s expects the island`s debt to exceed 100 percent of its economic output, compared with 65 percent in 1999.

Moody`s said structural issues that have lead to a higher debt burden for the Caribbean nation, which is heavily dependent on tourism and offshore financial services for its income.

`Barbados` key debt indicators have been on a deteriorating path over the past decade, and are now at levels that compare poorly with other countries in the same rating category,` stated Moody`s analyst Alessandra Alecci in the Wall Street Journal.

The Moody`s report comes just four month after Standard & Poor`s Rating Services cut Barbados` credit ratings closer to junk territory, putting the rating at BBB, or two notches above junk.