THE Isle of Man has retained its "AAA" credit rating.

Treasury Minister Anne Craine MHK has welcomed the announcement from Moody's Investor Services after they had placed the Island on review for possible downgrade in October 2009.

The news comes a few weeks after the rating was also confirmed by Standard and Poors.

Moody's had placed the Isle of Man on review in October 2009 but this opinion has been revised as a result of "the positive response of the government in meeting up to 25% cuts in the Isle’s governmental revenues caused by the revised VAT sharing agreement with the UK."

Anne Craine said that both organisations had undertaken a thorough review of the Island’s financial position and that Standard and Poors is confident that the Isle of Man "would move back to surplus by 2013 based on prudent financial policies and strong economic performance".

The Minster concluded: "As we finalise plans for the 2011 Budget it is pleasing to see that the plans set out by my predecessor have been externally validated. We are building on those and I hope to grow income and reduce expenditure further next year to ensure that we return to a balanced budget within the timescales we have set for ourselves."