Fitch affirms and withdraws NSB’s ratings

Thursday, 21 May 2020 00:43 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Fitch Ratings has affirmed and withdrawn Sri Lanka-based National Savings Bank’s (NSB) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘B-’ with a Negative Outlook.

The affirmation of NSB’s IDRs, Support Rating and Support Rating Floor reflects that there have been no material changes from Fitch’s last review on 5 May 2020.

Fitch said it chose to withdraw the ratings for commercial reasons.

It said NSB’s IDRs and Outlook are driven by our expectation of modest sovereign support, indicated by its Support Rating Floor, which is aligned with the sovereign’s ‘B-’ IDR. Fitch has not assigned a Viability Rating to NSB, as it is a policy bank.

“We believe extraordinary state support stems from its policy mandate of mobilising retail savings and investing them in government securities,” it said.

The NSB Act contains an explicit deposit guarantee, and Fitch believes the authorities would support the bank’s depositors and senior unsecured creditors to maintain confidence and stability in the system.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.