Fitch Ratings, last Friday, affirmed Wifack International Bank’s (Wifack) National Long-Term Rating at ‘AA+ (tun)’ and National Short-Term Rating at ‘F1+ (tun)’,. The Outlook for the Long-Term Rating is Stable.
Fitch said Wifack’s National Ratings are driven by potential support from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD).
ICD is a multilateral development financial institution and part of the Islamic Development Bank group. It promotes economic development through the financing of private sector projects.
“ICD’s ability to support Wifack is high as reflected by ICD’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘AA-‘ (Stable), but in our opinion its propensity to do so may be lower, primarily because it controls only 30% of Wifack,” the rating agency pointed out.
It added that “the bank’s other minority shareholders – the state-owned Groupe Societe Tunisienne de Banque (18.8%) and the Tunisian Caisse des Depots et Consignations (10%) –
can also influence Wifack’s strategy. We therefore regard the overall probability of support from ICD as moderate.”
