Bank Muscat’s Ratings Lowered following Sovereign Rating Action; Outlook Remains Negative

Bank Muscat’s Ratings Lowered following Sovereign Rating Action; Outlook Remains Negative

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) today announced that it has downgraded the Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) of Bank Muscat (BM) to ‘BB’ from ‘BB+’ following the recent do wngrade of Oman’s sovereign issuer ratings to ‘BB’/Negative (from ‘BB+’/Negative). Its Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating (ST FCR) is ma intained at ‘B’. At the same time, CI Ratings has also lowered BM’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) to ‘bb’ from ‘bb + ’. The Bank’s Core Financial Strength (CFS) rating is affirmed at ‘bbb’ but the Extraordinary Support Level (ESL) is adjusted to Moderate from High , reflecting the weaker fiscal position of the government to support the banking sector. The Outlook for both the LT FCR and BSR remains Negative. The Bank’s FCRs and Outlook are currently set at the same level as…