Moody's may upgrade five Omani banks

Moody's Investors Service said it placed on review for possible upgrade the Baa1 long-term foreign-currency deposit ratings of BankMuscat, National Bank of Oman, Oman International Bank and Oman Arab Bank, the Baa2 long-term and P-3 short-term local- and foreign-currency deposit ratings of Alliance Housing Bank and the Baa1 local- and foreign-currency senior unsecured debt ratings of BankMuscat.

These actions follow Moody's placement of Oman's Baa1 ceiling for foreign-currency deposit ratings, Baa1 long-term local- and foreign-currency government bond ratings and A2 ceiling for foreign-currency debt on review for possible upgrade on Sept. 7.

Moody's said the placement of the deposit ratings for the five Omani banks and the senior unsecured debt ratings of BankMuscat on review for possible upgrade reflects the agency's continued expectation of a very strong likelihood of support from the Omani authorities should the need arise, combined with the improved capacity of the government to provide such support as a result of the significant improvement in Oman's economic fundamentals over the past several years. In the past, the Omani authorities have supported domestic banks in difficulty although there is no explicit guarantee to do so, and Moody's does not anticipate any change in that policy over the medium term.

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