Oman’s Sovereign Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Remains Negative

Ref: OM21CRA00-02 3 September 20 2 1

Oman’s Sovereign Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Remains Negative

Rating Action

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI) today announced that it has affirmed Oman’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Long-Term Local Currency Rating (LT LCR) at ‘BB’ . T he sovereign’s Short-Term Foreign Currency Rating (ST FCR ) and Short-Term Local Currency Rating ( ST LCR ) have also been affirmed at ‘B’ . The Outlook for the ratings remains Negative.

Rating Rationale

The ratings are supported by the country’s moderate fiscal and external buffers, a relatively sound banking system, as well as CI’s expectation that financial support would be forthcoming from other GCC countries in the event of need. The ratings are constrained by the strong increase in public debt in recent years, the government’s reliance on external commercial borrowing, weak domestic demand , as well as the…