Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s major credit rating institutions has affirmed AAA long term and A-1+ short term issuer credit ratings, its highest credit ratings, on the Islamic Development Bank Group for the second year in a row.
The President of the IDB Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, has indicated that Standard & Poor’s affirmed the ratings on the IDB Group for the second year in a row because of several important factors. Chief among the factors were: the IDB’s strong capital base, which reflects the shareholders’ strong commitment and the highest development asset coverage ratio compared to the ratio registered by similar international development institutions such as the World Bank. Another major factor was that IDB has registered the highest performance level in its development asset portfolio although the Bank allocates part of its funding to its least developed member countries.

The President stated that the rating was important because it would enhance the IDB’s standing and image in the international market and thus enable it to mobilize more resources to satisfy the growing development needs of its member countries.

The President commended the member countries for supporting the Bank through a callable capital of US$ 7.8 billion. He also stated that in the last three decades since the Bank’s inception, its activities have spanned through 55 member countries, and its cumulative financing reached around US$ 41 billion. He also pointed out that the Bank has provided grants to Muslim communities in 67 non-member countries to help finance education, health, cultural and social projects.