Fitch Ratings has upgraded the long-term foreign currency and local currency ratings of a number of Turkish banks, following its upgrade of the Republic of Turkey's sovereign rating on September 25, 2003.
Additionally, Fitch has changed the support ratings of certain banks to 4 from 5. Although the agency firmly believes that the propensity of the Turkish authorities to support its banking system is virtually unquestioned, its ability to do so may be limited in certain circumstances, despite the improvement in the country's fiscal position as reflected in the recent sovereign upgrade.
Nevertheless, Fitch believes that, should it be necessary, support would more likely to be forthcoming for institutions that are 100 percent owned by the government and for several large private commercial banks that Fitch considers to be systemically important.
Banks whose ratings are affected include Akbank, Denizbank, Disbank, Finansbank, Garanti Factoring and Oyak Bank. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
