China-led multilateral lender AIIB gets top-notch credit rating from Moody’s
Rating from the agency that downgraded China’s sovereign credit rating in May will put infrastructure lender on par with World Bank
The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said on Thursday that it had received a top-notch credit rating from Moody’s, the rating agency that just downgraded China’s sovereign credit rating a month earlier.
The long-term foreign currency issuer rating of Aaa granted by Moody’s Investors Service will put the Beijing-based multilateral lender on par with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and pave the way for the bank to sell bonds to international investors.
Moody’s was the first major international rating agency to grant the “highest possible rating” to AIIB, although the rating agency angered Beijing last month by downgrading the country’s sovereign rating for the first time since 1989.
The triple-A rating for AIIB is granted because of the bank’s US$100 billion capital base and prudent policies in risk management, the bank said.
AIIB is widely viewed as a success in Beijing’s economic diplomacy. The bank now has more than 80 members despite resistance from Washington and Tokyo. The bank’s mission is to promote infrastructure financing in Asia and beyond.