Thomson BankWatch confirmed rating of bank Kaspiiskii (Kazakhstan)

/IRBIS, Jan.25, 00/ - REUTERS informs that International rating agency Thomson BankWatch confirmed effective ratings of Kazakhstani bank Kaspiiskii - internal country rating at "IC-D", short term rating in local currency at 'Ч-С-З", and main long term rating at "B". The agency informs that the bank's assets remained at the level of 1998 within 9 months of last year. In dollar terms they went down 40%, at $21 mln caused by a significant tenge devaluation and absence of growth in last year. General quality of the bank's assets is considered satisfactory, but its loan portfolio worsened because of the trends in the industry in last year. Though the capitalization of the bank is quite high, its liquidity is adequate. Financing sources are well diversified, says the agency. There is one weak point in the bank's activities, which is the absence of profit based on international accounting standards. The agency believes this weakness can be compensated by a right direction chosen by the bank and strong interest of the shareholders in the bank.