S&P affirms Emirates Development Bank's 'AA-' Credit Rating with Stable Outlook

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 22 May 2023: S&P Global Ratings ("S&P") affirmed the 'AA-' credit rating for Emirates Development Bank ("EDB" or "the Bank"), demonstrating the Bank's strong creditworthiness. The rating comes with a 'Stable' outlook, indicating confidence in EDB's ability to maintain its financial stability.

The affirmation of EDB's credit rating at AA- is a strong sign of confidence in its credit fundamentals and risk management principles, giving further evidence of the Bank's strong capacity to meet its financial commitments.

Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Development Bank, said: "This latest S&P rating and stable outlook reinforce EDB's position as the key financial engine for the economic development and industrial advancement of the UAE. Our own Development Impact Scorecard and primacy of our strategy steer our performance and guide us through our development journey. Such ratings position us for rapid lending growth as we continue to empower businesses and deliver on our mandate to drive national industrial growth and economic diversification in line with the UAE government’s visions and priorities."

In April 2021, EDB embarked on an ambitious five-year strategy to become the key financial engine of the UAE government’s industrial and economic diversification agenda. The strategy is focused on supporting large corporates , SMEs, and startups that operate within five priority sectors to the UAE's national development plans - manufacturing, advanced technology, healthcare, renewables, and food security. The Bank allocated AED30 billion to support 13,500 companies within these sectors by 2026.

EDB has developed its own Proprietary Developmental Impact Scorecard which is a core component of how the Bank assesses a company or project’s eligibility for finance. Alongside normal lending criteria, EDB uses this scorecard to assess qualitative and quantitative economic impact such as GDP growth and job creation as well as in-country value, advanced technology adoption and greenfield or brownfield development.

S&P Global Ratings provides credit ratings for banks and other financial institutions based on their creditworthiness and strong capitalisation. The ratings range from ‘AAA’ (highest) to ‘D’ (default).