Moody's Investors Service raised from A2  to A1 the risk rating of a 20-year $450 million bond issue from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), the agency reported on Tuesday morning, March 12.

The action follows the one taken on the sovereign rating of Panama, which was improved on March 8 from Baa2 to Baa1, with a stable outlook.

Moody's notes that the improvement in the rating of the ACP issue reflects the strong performance of the entity since the opening of the Canal expansion in June 2016.

"The expansion has generated an increase in cargo and new lines of business. The strong performance of the ACP has resulted in better than expected financial metrics, "the agency said.