Saudi Arabia – Outlook Revised to Positive; Ratings Affirmed Rating Action

Ref : SA 2 2 CRA00-0 2 16 December 202 2

Saudi Arabia – Outlook Revised to Positive; Ratings Affirmed Rating Action

Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings or CI ) today announced that it has revised the Outlook on Saudi Arabia’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Long-Term Local Currency Rating (LT LCR) to Positive from Stable . At the same time, CI Ratings has affirmed the sovereign’s LT FCR and LT LCR at ‘A+’ , and Short-Term (ST) FCR and ST LCR at ‘A1’.

Rating Rationale

The change in the Outlook reflect s our view that Saudi Arabia’s public and external finances will continue to improve throughout the forecast horizon . This is based on our expectation that international oil prices will continue to exceed budget and external breakeven oil prices , contributing to declining gross debt ratios and increasing net creditor positions . We also expect the Saudi authorities to continue implementing their…