Fitch Revises Six Saudi Banks’ Outlooks to Stable from Negative; Affirms IDRs at ‘BBB+’

Fitch Ratings (Fitch) has revised the Outlooks of six Saudi banks to Stable from Negative, while affirming their Foreign Currency and Local Currency Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at ‘BBB+’. The banks include Arab National Bank (ANB), Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB), Gulf International Bank - Saudi Arabia (GIB SA), as well as two Islamic banks - Alinma Bank (Alinma) and Bank Aljazira (BAJ).

Ratings Rationale

The IDRs of the six banks are driven by sovereign support, as indicated by their Support Rating Floors (SRFs) of ‘BBB+’, which reflects a high probability of support from Saudi authorities if required. The authorities have large external reserves, enabling them to support the banking system,...