Habib Bank Limited – Ratings Affirmed

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) today announced that it has affirmed the Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating (ST FCR) of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at ‘C+’ and ‘C’, respectively. At the same time, CI Ratings has affirmed HBL’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) of ‘c’ and Core Financial Strength (CFS) rating of ‘b+’. The Outlook for all ratings is Stable.

HBL’s LT FCR is constrained by CI’s internal assessment of sovereign credit risk for Pakistan. The  Bank is the fourth-largest bank in Pakistan by market capitalisation, with the largest branch network and approximately 15% of banking sector deposits. In August 2024, the Bank was designated a domestic systemically important bank (D-SIB) by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The ESL is assessed as moderate and balances the high likelihood of the Bank receiving extraordinary support from the authorities against the weak financial capacity of the…