Fitch Ratings agency has affirmed its designation for the creditworthiness of Ras Al Khaimah at A, despite what it said were weaknesses in the emirate’s economic data.
Fitch’s rating, which comes with an outlook of stable, is a couple of notches below its rating for the UAE as a whole at AA+.
Fitch noted that RAK, the country’s fourth largest emirate, benefits from the overall strength of the UAE and has low debt and a strong fiscal current surplus. At the same time, it said questions around the emirate’s data remain a concern.
“Institutional weaknesses continue to constrain the rating,” the agency said. “The availability of data in RAK is weaker than most Fitch-rated sovereigns. National accounts are particularly weak, with no real GDP data. Balance of payments and monetary data are only compiled for the UAE in aggregate. Fiscal data provision in RAK is adequate and public sector wide, with strong central control.”
This month, Fitch’s competitor, Standard & Poor’s, raised RAK’s credit outlook to stable because it said the emirate was improving the quality of its economic data.
S&P now rates RAK as “stable” with a A/A-1 rating. In light of the agency’s earlier negative outlook on RAK, the emirate made a concerted effort to answer the questions over increased population numbers.
mkassem@thenational.ae
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