Rating agency Moody’s on Thursday affirmed the B3 long-term deposit ratings of five leading Pakistani banks and changed their outlook to negative from stable.
The banks are Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Limited (UBL). “Moody’s has changed the outlook on the banks’ long-term deposit ratings to negative from stable,” read a statement issued on Thursday. The rating agency has also downgraded the long-term foreign currency Counterparty Risk Ratings of ABL, MCB and UBL to B3 from B2; these ratings are now constrained by the government of Pakistan’s foreign currency country ceiling, which was lowered to B3 from B2. “Today’s rating actions follow Moody’s decision to change the government of Pakistan’s B3 ratings to negative from stable on June 2, 2022, and also lower the country’s local and foreign currency country ceilings to B1 and B3, from B3 and B2, respectively,” said Moody’s.
The negative outlook on the sovereign is driven by Pakistan’s
