Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.1 /Trend N.Ismayilova/
International rating agency Moody's Investors Service has revised the ratings of national currency deposits in five banks in Uzbekistan with a view to a downgrade, the agency said on Wednesday.
The revision will affect the rating of the following banks:
- National Bank of Uzbekistan: long-term deposit rating in national currency Ba3 revised downwards
- Asaka Bank, long-term deposit rating in national currency Ba3 revised downwards
- Mortgage Bank long-term deposit rating in national currency B1 revised downwards
- Qishloq Kurilish Bank long-term deposit rating in national currency B1 revised downwards
- Aloqabank long-term deposit rating in national currency of B1 revised downwards
Short-term ratings in local and foreign currencies, as well as long-term deposit ratings of B2 foreign currency, won't be revised.
"The revision is due to a reassessment of likely government support by Moody's alongside the ratings of deposits in these banks," the agency said.
The agency said that although the government of Uzbekistan provides capital and liquidity to state banks, the support has not always been timely and / or sufficient.
In addition, said the agency, Government support to state banks is at times unpredictable, and not transparent enough. These issues were particularly evident in recent years, for instance with two large state banks, the National Bank of Uzbekistan and Agrobank, whose last ratings were downgraded on December 2011 and therefore are currently not subject to revision.
Moody's plans to complete the revision of the ratings in the next three months. The ratings of deposits in national currencies of the above banks may be downgraded by one notch.