Moody’s upgrades credit rating of 5 Egyptian banks

CAIRO – 25 April 2019: Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) upgraded the credit rating of five Egyptian banks Tuesday, with stable outlook.

The five banks are Banque du Caire, commercial International Bank, the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr and Bank of Alexandria.

Moody’s upgraded the long- term local currency deposits to B2 from B3 of Banque du Caire, Commercial International Bank, National Bank of Egypt, and Banque Misr. As per Bank of Alexndria, threating rose to B1 from B2.

The agency noted that its local currency deposit outlook for all banks changed to stable from positive.

Regarding the long-term foreign currency deposit, Moody’s also upgraded their credit rating to B3 from Caa1.

Moreover, Moody’s upgraded the banking sector’s macro profile to Weak from Very Weak, noting that the banking sector faces several challenges of low incomes, high unemployment and difficult credit conditions.

“Credit conditions continued to be constrained by unsecured lending due to some legal loopholes, the concentration of loans in a limited segment of clients, and the marked increase in high-risk loans for SMEs.”

This rating comes a week after Moody’s upgraded the long-term foreign and local currency issuer ratings of the Government of Egypt to B2 from B3 and changed its outlook to stable from positive.

Moody’s upgrades Egypt’s rating to B2 with stable outlook

CAIRO – 18 April 2019: Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) upgraded the long-term foreign and local currency issuer ratings of the Government of Egypt to B2 from B3, and changed its outlook to stable from positive.