Fitch Ratings has devalued the National Long-Term Ratings of 10 Sri Lankan banks following the recent sovereign downgrade and recalibration of the firms Sri Lankan national score scale.The recalibration is to reflect modifications in the relative credit reliability among Sri Lankan issuers following Fitchs downgrade of Sri Lankas Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to CC from CCC/ Under Criteria Observation on 1 December 2022.
The rating agency stated it normally does not assign Outlooks or use modifiers to sovereigns with a ranking of CCC+ or below.National scale ratings are a danger ranking of companies in a specific market developed to assist regional financiers differentiate risk.
Sri Lankas nationwide scale ratings are represented by the special identifier ( lka).
Fitch includes this identifier to reflect the unique nature of the Sri Lankan nationwide scale.National scales are not equivalent with Fitchs global ranking scales or with other nations national ranking scales.The National Ratings of the Sri Lankan banks consider their credit reliability relative to other providers in the country.
The recalibration of the Sri Lankan National Rating scale has actually resulted in downgrades of the National Long-Term Ratings of the following banks:- Bank of Ceylon .- Peoples Bank .- Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC .- Hatton National Bank PLC .- Sampath Bank PLC .- Cargills Bank Limited .- DFCC Bank PLC .- National Development Bank PLC .- Seylan Bank PLC .- Nations Trust Bank PLCMeanwhile, other Sri Lankan banks nationwide ratings, which are not mentioned in this commentary, have not been affected by the recalibration exercise.