Fitch Ratings has affirmed Bank Muscat SAOG's (BM) medium-term note programme's short-term rating at 'B', as part of its earlier review on 29 November 2023 (see 'Fitch Affirms Bank Muscat at 'BB+'; Stable Outlook').

Key Rating Drivers

The 'B' short-term rating of senior debt issued by BM is in line with the bank's Short-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'B' because Fitch views the likelihood of default on senior obligations as the same as that of the bank.

Rating Sensitivities

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade

BM's senior unsecured euro medium-term note programme and debt ratings are rated in line with its IDRs. A downgrade of BM's Short-Term IDR would result in a downgrade of the short-term senior debt ratings.

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade

An upgrade of BM's Short-Term IDR would result in an upgrade of the short-term senior debt ratings.

REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING

The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.

ESG Considerations

The highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3', unless otherwise disclosed in this section. A score of '3' means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by the entity. Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores are not inputs in the rating process; they are an observation on the relevance and materiality of ESG factors in the rating decision. For more information on Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/topics/esg/products#esg-relevance-scores.

(C) 2023 Electronic News Publishing, source ENP Newswire