Arab Bank's currency rating revised

Arab Bank (AB), Jordan's biggest lender, had its local currency long-term rating cut to BBB- from BBB by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services after the agency downgraded Jordan's sovereign rating by one level last week.

The agency affirmed Arab Bank's A-3 short-term rating and said in a statement the outlook is "stable".

"The stable outlook on AB mirrors that on the sovereign ratings because we consider that AB is subject to sovereign risk due to its incorporation and operations in Jordan," the agency said. "The ratings on AB will therefore continue to follow closely those on Jordan."

S&P cut Jordan's local-currency credit rating to BBB-, the lowest investment-grade ranking, from BBB, on March 12 because of an increase in the Middle Eastern country's debt burden.