Standard & Poor's assigned ‘AAA' rating to Islamic Developmetn Bank (IDB) $3.5 billion trust certificate issuance program, IDB said in a statement on Wednesday. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed for the 9th consecutive year its ‘AAA' long-term and ‘A-1+' short-term issuer credit ratings on the Bank with a Stable Outlook. Standard & Poor's said the IDB's ratings are underpinned by strong shareholders' support, very high level of capital and liquidity and a good asset portfolio with historically very low losses and preferred-creditor treatment. IDB is one of the few multilateral development financial institutions with the highest possible credit ratings issued by the three leading international rating agencies - Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings and Moody's. Moreover, IDB has been recognized as eligible for ‘Zero Risk-Weight' by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 2004 and the EU in May 2007. Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, president of the IDB, said “IDB continued its efforts to reform the bank with a view to strengthening performance through improved governance and organizational efficiencies.
