Banque Nationale Agricole – Ratings Lowered; LT FCR Outlook Remains Negative

Banque Nationale Agricole – Ratings Lowered; LT FCR Outlook Remains Negative

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) today announced that it has downgraded the Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating (ST FCR) of Banque Nationale Agricole (BNA) to ‘C+’ and ‘C’, respectively, from ‘B-’ and ‘B’. The Outlook for the LT FCR remains Negative. At the same time, CI Ratings has lowered BNA’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) by one notch to ‘c’, from ‘b-’, and the Core Financial Strength (CFS) rating to ‘b’, from ‘b+’. BNA’s Extraordinary Support Level (ESL) of Moderate has been affirmed.

The change in BNA’s FCRs and BSR follows a lowering in CI’s internal assessment of sovereign risk for Tunisia, reflecting the more challenging operating environment and weaker economy. The downward adjustment of our internal assessment of the sovereign’s creditworthiness is…