S&P cuts its outlook on 3 Egyptian banks from ‘positive’ to ‘stable’

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services has revised Tuesday its outlook on the Commercial International Bank (CIB), National Bank of Egypt, and Banque Misr from positive to stable following last week’s revision of the outlook on Egypt from positive to stable.

The outlook revision on Egypt was driven by lower economic recovery expectations and persistent external imbalances.

S&P expects that economic recovery in Egypt will likely remain gradual, depend on maintaining security/sociopolitical stability, and addressing structural shortcomings in the energy and foreign exchange markets.

S&P’s stable outlook on the three banks mirrors the stable outlook on the long-term ratings of Egypt.

The stable outlook on Egypt reflects S&P’s expectation that the country will largely remain politically stable, its economy will continue to gradually grow in the face of important macroeconomic headwinds, and that the fiscal deficit will improve but remain at high levels.