Fitch Ratings has lowered the Tunisia-based “Caisse des Prets et de Soutien des Collectivites Locales” (CPSCL) National Long-term rating to ‘AA-(tun)’ from ‘AA(tun)’ and affirmed the National Short-term rating at ‘F1+(tun)’.
The Outlook on the National Long-term rating is Negative. At the same time, Fitch has withdrawn CPSCL’s Support Rating of ‘3’ due to a criteria change.
Fitch now applies its ‘Ratings of Public Sector Entities – Outside the US’ criteria to rate CPSCL with a top-down approach, rather than its Financial Institutions criteria.
The National rating actions follow the downgrade of Tunisia’s Issuer Default Rating to ‘BB+’, Outlook Negative”, on 12 December 2012, and indirectly reflect a relative weakening of the sovereign creditworthiness within the National scale.
The Negative Outlook on the National Long-term Rating reflects that on Tunisia’s Long-term IDRs.
CPSCL’s ratings are linked to those of Tunisia, reflecting its quasi-sovereign status, the high probability of government support in case of need and its public sector policy role in providing infrastructure funding to Tunisian local authorities.
