Moody’s has adjusted its local currency country risk ceiling and the foreign currency bond and deposit ceilings for Oman, reflecting a methodological change earlier this year.
The long-term local currency bond and deposit ceiling was changed to Aa3 from Aa2. The long-term foreign currency bond ceiling was also changed to Aa3 from Aa2, while the deposit ceiling remained at A1. The ratings agency also left the short-term foreign currency bond and deposit ceilings at P-1.
The adjustment brings Oman’s local currency ceilings closer towards the sovereign bond rating of A1, which reflects the currency peg to the US dollar, the high degree of government intervention in the economy and the high dependence of the government finances and the overall economic performance on oil price movements.
Similarly, the strong foreign currency ceilings reflect Oman’s foreign exchange liquidity supported by current account surpluses and sizeable foreign exchange assets.
Related Articles
Egypt brings new gas well online with 10mn cubic feet/day output
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is finalising procedures to bring a new natural gas well, North El-Basant-1, into production with an expected output of around 10mn cubic feet ... more
Tunisia kicks off stalled expansion of solar projects with 1.3GW capacity push
Tunisia is finally accelerating the deployment of its large-scale photovoltaic (PV) sector after years of slow progress, with construction now underway across multiple major projects, PV-Magazine ... more
Shell and Petronas seek 20% gas price increase for Egypt’s West Delta marine phase
UK energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) and Malaysia's national oil and gas company Petronas have asked the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to raise the gas price for the upcoming Phase 12 ... more