Moody's upgrades Oman banks

Moody's Investors Service said it has upgraded the long- and short-term foreign currency deposit ratings of BankMuscat, National Bank of Oman, Oman International Bank and Oman Arab Bank to Baa1/P-2 from Baa3/P-3, of Alliance Housing Bank to Baa2/P-3 from Baa3/P-3 and the foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating of BankMuscat to Baa1 from Baa3.

At the same time, Moody's also has upgraded the local currency senior debt ratings of BankMuscat to Baa1 from Baa3 and the long- and short-term local currency deposit ratings of Alliance Housing Bank to Baa2/P-3 from Baa3/P-3.

These rating actions follow Moody's recent upgrade of Oman's foreign and local currency country ceiling for bonds and bank deposits to Baa1/P-2 from Baa2/P-2.

The outlook for the local and foreign currency deposit and debt ratings of all five banks is stable.

By the same action, Moody's also has changed the outlook on the D+ financial strength rating of BankMuscat to positive from stable and on the D- financial strength rating of National Bank of Oman to stable from negative.

The financial strength rating of Oman Arab Bank, Oman International Bank and Alliance Housing Bank all carry stable outlooks and are unaffected by this action.

The upgrading of the deposit ratings for the five Omani banks and the senior unsecured debt rating of BankMuscat is based on the strong likelihood of support from the Omani authorities should the need arise, combined with the improved capacity of the government to provide such support.

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