VICTORIA, Seychelles — Secretary of State for Finance Patrick Payet has announced that the country has officially requested a re-evaluation from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with discussions set for September this year. The goal is to achieve a ‘largely compliant’ status across all 40 standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Speaking at a press conference yesterday morning, Mr Payet explained that this move could improve Seychelles’ financial rating, potentially elevating its current ‘BB-‘ rating with a positive outlook in the next Fitch assessment in 2027.
The OECD will also assess whether Seychelles can be removed from the European Union’s grey list, a process that will begin in April and conclude in December this year. ‘The aim is to get a good rating to then use in February of 2026 when the EU will do the final rating to take us off the grey list,’ Mr Payet stated. To achieve these improvements, Seychelles must not only have the necessary legal frameworks in place but also demonstrate better coordination among its key institutions, including the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles and the Seychelles Revenue Commission.
Currently, Seychelles is either ‘largely compliant’ or ‘compliant’ with 35 out of the 40 FATF standards. Mr Payet emphasised that these efforts will help improve transparency and strengthen good governance within the country. Moreover, regarding attracting investments in other sectors to reduce economic dependence on tourism, Mr Payet proposed that the fisheries sector is one area being heavily pushed in order to get more added value. Fitch Ratings has affirmed Seychelles’ Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating at ‘BB-‘ with a Stable Outlook, in a report published on March 7.
