Guatemala as Central America's best-rated sovereign credit

Dossier: Guatemala against the region19-benchmark-regional.md
Domain: Guatemala against the regionbenchmark-regional
Room: Economy/economia
Audited: not audited

Yes: Guatemala (Ba1/BB+/BB+) is the best-rated credit in Central America — above Costa Rica at Moody's (Ba1 vs Ba2), at S&P (BB+ vs BB) and, since the 14 October 2025 upgrade, at Fitch too (BB+ stable vs BB positive, per the dossier's last verification of Costa Rica). It is converging towards Mexico, which is moving in the opposite direction: Moody's downgraded it to Baa3 on 20 May 2026, three weeks after affirming Guatemala at Ba1. Fitch lists Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic among its ‘BB rising stars’, candidates for investment grade (December 2025).

The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.

Caveat

Corrected 30-Aug-2026: it read 'the same at Fitch (BB positive for both)'; Guatemala has been BB+ stable since 14-Oct-2025. Costa Rica's Fitch row (BB positive, Dec-2025) awaits re-verification — if Costa Rica was also upgraded, the comparison changes.

Sources

MEF Paraguay, Regional Outlook of Sovereign Ratings, dic-2025mef.gov.pyconsulted Aug 19, 2026
S&P Global Ratings, Guatemaladisclosure.spglobal.comconsulted Aug 19, 2026
El Financiero MX, 21-may-2026, Moody's baja a Méxicoelfinanciero.com.mxconsulted Aug 22, 2026

Related records

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