Standard & Poor's Ratings Services launched its national credit rating scale for the Republic of Kazakhstan (foreign currency BBB-/Stable/A-3; local currency BBB/Stable/A-3; national scale rating 'kzAAA')

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services launched its national credit rating scale for the Republic of Kazakhstan (foreign currency BBB-/Stable/A-3; local currency BBB/Stable/A-3; national scale rating 'kzAAA'), S&P said in a press release. Tailored to meet the specific needs of local and foreign participants on Kazakhstan's capital and money markets, the new scale will enable Standard & Poor's to offer a much finer distinction in the credit quality of local debt issuers than is allowed by the existing global scale. "The introduction of the Standard & Poor's Kazakhstan national credit rating scale is especially important, in view of the rapid development of the Kazakhstan economy, with its growing need for international investment, expanding bond market, and influx of foreign investors," said Rob Richards, Standard & Poor's Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). "The scale is a unique instrument for measuring the credit risk associated with issuers and debt instruments operating and used on the Kazakhstan market." Standard & Poor's Kazakhstan national credit rating scale is designed to better meet the needs of issuers, counterparties, intermediaries, and investors on the country's financial markets. It provides both debt ratings, which apply to a specific debt instrument, and issuer credit ratings, which apply to a specific obligor. Pursuant to this scale, debt and issuer credit ratings are based, first and foremost, on a comparative analysis of the credit risk associated with obligations and entities active on Kazakhstan's financial markets. This means that the ratings provide credit risk estimates which emphasize the relative creditworthiness of debt issues and issuers on the money and capital markets of Kazakhstan. Standard & Poor's has gained a significant amount of experience in the use of national rating scales worldwide. It assigns national scale ratings in the Republic of Argentina, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Nordic region, Canada, the United Mexican States, Taiwan (Republic of China), the Republic of France, and The Russian Federation. The company currently monitors more than 800 national scale ratings worldwide.