Fitch to recalibrate ‘lka’ ratings to reflect sovereign downgrade

Fitch Ratings said yesterday it would recalibrate the Sri Lankan National Rating scale to reflect changes in the relative credit worthiness among Sri Lankan issuers, following the downgrade of the country’s sovereign rating to ‘B’ from ‘B+’ on 3 December 2018.

“The recalibration will result in rating actions for some issuers with Sri Lankan national ratings.  

We anticipate a reduction in the number of ‘AAA (lka)’ rated issuers after the recalibration exercise is finalised, by end-February 2019, as a result of the sovereign downgrade and the resultant changes to the relative ranking of credits in the country,” Fitch said.   

National scale ratings are a risk ranking of issuers in particular markets designed to help local investors differentiate risk. 

Sri Lanka’s national scale ratings are denoted by the unique identifier ‘(lka)’. Fitch adds this identifier to reflect the unique nature of the Sri Lankan national scale. 
National scales are not comparable with Fitch’s international ratings scales or with other countries’ national rating scales.