CI revises OAB’s outlook to Stable from Negative

BUSINESS REPORTER

MUSCAT, APRIL 3

Oman Arab Bank (OAB) has announced that the international credit rating agency, ‘Capital Intelligence’ (CI), has revised the outlook for its Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Bank Standalone Rating (BSR) to Stable from Negative.

The recent revision comes in the wake of the amendment of the Sultanate of Oman’s sovereign credit rating to Stable from Negative. The agency also affirmed the bank’s Long-Term (LT FCR) and Short-Term Foreign Currency Ratings (ST FCR) at ‘BB’ and ‘B’ respectively.

The revision of Oman’s LT FCR Outlook by the agency to Stable reflects the ongoing strengthening of the Sultanate’s public finances and external balances, as well as improving government debt metrics due to the recent rise in oil prices.

Commenting on the result of this report, Rashad al Zubair, Chairman of Oman Arab Bank said, “The improvement of the macroeconomic environment of the Sultanate, and its reflection on the banking sector, which showed high efficiency in managing the last stage, led to the revision of the outlook by the agency. The report emphasised that the the credit rating of Oman Arab Bank is based on its strong deposits, good loans and high capital adequacy ratios after issuing perpetual bonds during the past year.” He added, “We are confident that this report will reflect positively on the financial position of the bank and we, in turn, will continue to diversify our activities and strengthen our financial position by following a prudent and focused approach to risk management, as we look forward to further development and growth in all areas.”