Fitch affirms ratings for Abu Dhabi |
|
Friday, Aug 15, 2008
Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: Fitch RatingsFitch Ratings
has affirmed Abu Dhabi's long-term local and foreign currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at 'AA', with a stable outlook - the highest rating given by the agency to an emerging market anywhere in the world.
"The short-term foreign currency IDR is affirmed at 'F1+', Fitch said.
Sovereign credit rating indicates the risk level of the investing environment of a country and is used by those looking to invest abroad.
Fitch treats Abu Dhabi and the UAE's other emirates as sovereign entities.
"Abu Dhabi's external balance sheet provides the key support to the rating. It has a lot of external assets and negligible external debts as far as the government is concerned," Fitch's head of Middle East Sovereign Ratings, Richard Fox, told Gulf News by telephone from London.
"Its public sector - majority state-owned companies - have growing external debts in comparison, but it's not a concern at the moment," said Fox.
He said the validity of the ratings are monitored on a regular basis.
Annual report
"There's an annual report on each country and every country is formally reviewed by us on an annual basis.
"We assigned a rating to Abu Dhabi last July which was 'AA', and it remains unchanged," Fox said.
"A Country Ceiling of 'AA+' is assigned to the UAE, applying to Abu Dhabi and all other emirates within the UAE," Fitch said in a statement.
"In the context of high oil prices, Abu Dhabi's financial wealth is increasing at a rapid rate as the govern-ment uses huge fiscal surpluses to accumulate external assets," it added.
© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
Comment on this article 
Loading ...-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Stories
Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Telecom | Saudi Arabia | Telecommunications Services |
| Nissan Motor Egypt | Egypt | Transportation Products |
| KIA Motors Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | Transportation Products |
| Ministry of Health - Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | Ministries and Municipalities |
| Al Rashid Trading and Contracting Company | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Al Azizia Panda United Company | Saudi Arabia | General Retailers |
| Dodsal Engineering and Construction | UAE | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Company | Saudi Arabia | Oil |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| Ras Girtas Power Company - Ras Girtas IWPP | Qatar | Power and Water |
| IGD - Gasco - Habshan 5 Gas Processing Plant | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex | UAE | Industry |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Qatar Foundation - Sidra Medical and Research Center | Qatar | Real Estate |
| Aramco/Dow Chemical - Ras Tanura Integrated Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Dubai RTA - Dubai Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Abu Dhabi Ports Company - Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (KPIZ) | UAE | Infrastructure |
| SATORP- Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex - Conversion Unit and Sulphur Package (Part 2) | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |