Fitch affirms Citibank N.A. Colombo branch at 'AAA (lka)

Fitch Ratings Lanka has affirmed Citibank N.A. - Colombo branch's (citiSL) National Long-term Rating at 'AAA(lka) CitiSL's rating reflects Citibank N.A.'s (Citibank) financial strength.

Given CitiSL is a branch and part of the same legal entity as Citibank, Fitch believes that support from the latter would be forthcoming if required. Subject to any regulatory constraints on remitting money to S.L. Citibank is rated 'A+'/rating watch negative, which is higher than the Foreign currency issuer Default Rating of 'BB'-/stable outlook.

CitiSL follows the groups global credit policy with a significant oversight by Citibank's cluster office in India and regional office in Hong Kong.

CitiSL has continually focused on loans to large corporates and multinationals and despite exercising strict lending criteria bears significant credit concentration in its loan book.