Bank Muscat – Ratings Upgraded Following Sovereign Action

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) today announced that it has raised the Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating (ST FCR) of Bank Muscat (BM or the Bank) to ‘BBB-’ and ‘A3’, respectively, from ‘BB+’ and ‘B’. This upward revision follows the recent upgrade of Oman’s sovereign ratings (‘BBB-’/‘A3’/Positive) earlier this month. The Outlook for the LT FCR remains Positive. At the same time, CI Ratings also raised BM’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) to ‘bbb-’ (from ‘bb+’), underpinned by a one-notch increase in the Operating Environment Risk Anchor (OPERA) to ‘bb+’. The BSR Outlook remains Stable. The Bank’s Core Financial Strength (CFS) rating has been affirmed at ‘bbb’ and the Extraordinary Support Level (ESL) raised to High from Moderate.

The change in the ESL is driven by the Omani sovereign’s improved capacity to provide extraordinary support, and also takes into account BM’s…