OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has assigned Institut Catala de Finances' (ICF) EUR200m Pagares programme a Long-term rating of 'BB' and a Short-term rating of 'B'.

The Pagares programme (Spanish commercial paper) will be used for liquidity purposes and notes issued under the programme will constitute direct, senior unsecured obligations of the ICF.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
ICF's ratings mirror those of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (BB/Negative/B), based on the explicit statutory guarantee from Catalonia following the regional Decree Law 4/2002, as amended on 29 July 2011. The ratings of ICF are therefore linked to the ratings of Catalonia, and ICF is classified by Fitch as a credit-linked public sector entity.

In line with Fitch's criteria, the programme is rated at the same level as ICF's Long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of 'BB' and Short-term IDR of 'B'.

The programme was launched in 2015 for the third consecutive year and has a 12-month validity. Issues under the programme may have 90 to 730 days maturities, and are issued at a discount. Apart from the statutory guarantee, Fitch views ICF's liquidity as sufficient for the redemption of the programme, at close to 2.7x of the maximum EUR200m authorised principal amount of the programme at end-2014.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
A change in the ratings of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia would be mirrored in the ratings of ICF, and in turn on the ratings of the programme or issues under the programme. Moreover, a significant deterioration of ICF's liquidity will also result in a negative rating action on the programme's rating.