Fitch Ratings has downgraded Arab Tunisian Bank’s (ATB) Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to ‘B-‘ from ‘B, with outlook negative, it said in a statement.
Fitch has also downgraded the bank’s Viability Rating (VR) to ‘ccc’ from ‘b-‘, saying ATB’s National Ratings are unaffected.
The ratings action follows the downgrade of Tunisia’s sovereign IDR to ‘CCC’ on March 18, 2022, and the downward revision of its Country Ceiling to ‘B-‘ from ‘B’, it added.
Fitch Ratings indicated that the downgrade of ATB’s VR to ‘ccc’ follows the downgrade of the Tunisian banks’ operating environment to ‘ccc’ from ‘b-‘ with a negative outlook, primarily reflecting heightened risks to the banking sector’s creditworthiness arising from a weakened sovereign and weaker operating conditions.
