National Bank of Egypt – 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 the National Bank of Egypt (NBE or the Bank) at ‘B’. At the same time, CI Ratings has affirmed NBE’s Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) of ‘b’, Core Financial Strength (CFS) rating of ‘bb’ and Extraordinary Support Level (ESL) of Moderate. The Outlook for the LT FCR and BSR remains Stable.

NBE’s size, ownership and high level of holdings of Egyptian government debt means that its ratings are inevitably closely correlated with those of the sovereign. NBE is also a leading banker to state-owned enterprises, underscoring the linkage with the sovereign. The ESL of Moderate reflects the likelihood of official extraordinary support, given NBE’s government ownership and its systemic importance as Egypt’s largest bank in terms of total assets, deposits and capital. However, while CI considers…