RIYADH – Moody's international credit rating agency on Wednesday raised Saudi Arabia's sovereign credit rating to ‘Aa3', while maintaining a ‘stable outlook', SPA said. This announcement followed a similar announcement early last month by Fitch International credit rating on the Kingdom's sovereign credit rating of ‘AA' with a stable future outlook. This confirms the safety of the Kingdom's economic policy under the guidance of the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. On this occasion, Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf said the Kingdom's success in maintaining its high credit rating, despite the economic pressures that accompanied the drop in oil prices, reflects the strength of the Saudi economy and its capability to confront periodic fluctuations. He confirmed that this is the result of the financial and monetary policies adopted by the Kingdom in line with the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Meanwhile, Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) Dr. Fahd Abdullah Al-Mubarak said Moody's and Fitch maintaining their high sovereign credit rating for the Kingdom confirms the success of the Kingdom's wise economic policy that stresses boosting the reserves in order to strengthen the financial solvency of the state and the financial institutions. He added that the Fitch report praises the supervisory efforts on the banking system in the Kingdom which the report rated as the fourth strongest banking system in the world. This confirms the strength of the financial positions of Saudi banks and their capability to achieve financial stability and support the national economy. — SG
