OREANDA-NEWS. On November 14, 2008 Moody’s Investors Service changed the outlook on AS “Latvijas Krajbanka” (hereinafter referred to as – Latvijas Krajbanka) D- bank financial strength rating (“BFSR”) and Ba2 long-term deposit ratings to negative from stable. The bank’s Not Prime short-term deposit rating was affirmed, reported the press-centre of Latvijas Krajbanka.

Moody’s recognises that Latvijas Krajbanka benefits from a large deposit base, which accounted for 92% of its total funding at end-September 2008. As a result, its liquidity profile is not exposed to the risk of being unable to meet its debt repayments in the near term.

The rating agency cautions that a downgrade of Latvijas Krajbanka’s BFSR and deposit ratings could be prompted by a potential weakening of its asset quality, or a tightening of its liquidity profile given the current challenging market conditions in the Latvian banking sector.