Fitch affirms 'BBB-' rating to Exim Bank, stable outlook

Fitch Ratings today said it has affirmed the 'BBB-' rating to Exim Bank, while the outlook on the ratings remains stable.
"Fitch Ratings has affirmed the ratings of Export-Import Bank of India (Exim) at 'BBB-'. The outlook on the ratings of the policy institution is stable," Fitch Ratings said.
BBB means a good credit quality and indicates lower credit risk.
The rating drivers are based on Exim Bank's key policy role of financing, facilitating and promoting India's foreign trade, and its establishment by a statute that ensures strong linkages with the government, it said.
Exim Bank is a 100 per cent government-owned agency.

It can only be liquidated with the approval of the government and this need not be in line with liquidation laws that apply to other companies, as per Exim Bank of India Act, 1981.

"The stable outlook on the rating mirrors the stable outlok on the sovereign rating," Fitch Ratings said.
Exim's rating is equalised to that of the sovereign and would move in tandem with the sovereign's rating, it added.
"Any perceived or actual weakening of the linkages between Exim and the sovereign, by way of sustained deviation of Exim's business model from its policy focus or reduction in the government's ownership below 100 per cent, could lead Fitch to revise its rating down from the sovereign rating", it said.

Fitch does not expect Exim's linkage with the sovereign to undergo any change in the near term, it said further.