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Moody’s Upgrades Doha Bank’s Outlook to
“Stable”
July 19, 2018
Moody’s Ratings has upgraded the outlook of
Doha Bank to Stable and affirmed its Long-term Issuer Default
Ratings (IDR) at ‘A3’. The upgrade to stable, follows the
revision of the Qatari sovereign's Outlook to “Stable” and the
affirmation of the country's Long-Term issuer and
foreign-currency senior unsecured debt ratings at ‘Aa3’, which
reflects Moody’s view that Qatar can withstand the economic,
financial and diplomatic boycott by the three neighboring Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Egypt. The rating also
confirms that Qatar can withstand any possible further
restrictions, for an extended period of time without a material
deterioration of the sovereign's credit profile.
This assessment is in part based on evidence
of broad resilience of Qatar's credit metrics to the economic
and financial blockade over the past 13 months. The rating
affirmation takes into account a number of credit strengths
embedded in Qatar's credit profile which, in Moody's view,
remains supported by the large net asset position of Qatar's
government, exceptionally high levels of per-capita income, very
large hydrocarbon reserves and relatively low fiscal and
external breakeven oil prices, all of which will continue to
provide a significant shock absorption capacity to the sovereign
country.
Dr. R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer
of Doha Bank, said that “Moody’s ratings recognized the
resilience of Qatari banks and Qatar’s operating environment to
the economic blockade and the support of Qatari Government for
the banking system in Qatar. The government has demonstrated a
strong commitment to its banks and key public sector companies,
which has been reaffirmed during this crisis. Qatar had shown
buoyancy in the times of crisis and this upgrade was testament
of its fundamental strength. In response to the economic
blockade Qatar has emerged strong and has brought various
reforms to transform itself into a self-reliant economy. Some of
these reforms include landmark residency bill, relaxing entry
visa requirements for citizens of 80 countries and enhancing
food security. Qatar will also raise LNG production by 30% to
100mtpa within five to seven years after lifting a moratorium on
gas development earlier in 2017. Qatar has been ranked 25th in
the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018”.
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