Moody’s changes view of five Tunisian banks

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed the local-currency deposit ratings of Amen Bank of B2/NP, Arab Tunisian Bank of B2/NP, Banque de Tunisie of B2/NP, Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie of B2/NP and Societe Tunisienne de Banque of B3/NP.

The agency also affirmed the baseline credit assessments of Banque de Tunisie and Banque Internationale Arabe at b3, the baseline credit assessments of Amen and Arab Tunisian Bank at caa1 and the baseline credit assessment of Societe Tunisienne de Banque at caa3.

Moody's also affirmed the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of the five banks at B3, at the same level as the country ceiling for foreign currency deposits, and affirmed the long-term B2(cr) counterparty risk assessment and the B2/NP counterparty risk ratings of all banks.

The agency said it changed the outlook on all long-term deposit ratings of the five banks to negative from stable.

The affirmation of the five Tunisian banks' ratings reflects a view that, despite a challenging operating environment, the banks' credit profiles, including asset-quality metrics, loss-absorption buffers and liquidity measures, will remain broadly stable at current weak levels, Moody’s said.

The negative outlooks are primarily driven by the weakening of the Tunisian government's capacity to support the banks, the agency added.

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