PACRA MAINTAINS THE ENTITY RATINGS OF
FIRST WOMEN BANK LIMITED

The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has maintained the long-term and short-term entity ratings of First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) at ‘BBB+’ (Triple B Plus) and ‘A2’ (A Two) respectively. These ratings denote a low expectation of credit risk emanating from an adequate capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.

The ratings reflect the bank’s relatively constrained position in the fast changing landscape of the banking industry. This mainly emanates from FWBL’s small size, its limited human resources and technology infrastructure, though there have been continuing efforts to improve these areas. At the same time, the bank is not compliant with the regulatory minimum paid-up capital requirement and is facing uncertainty due to pending privatization, which are major impediments for FWBL in maintaining the growth momentum. Meanwhile, the ratings remain on Rating Watch pending the privatization of the bank.

About the bank: First Women Bank Limited was established in 1989 with a vision to be the leading bank for women, catering to their special economic needs, both in urban & rural areas of Pakistan and enabling them to participate more actively towards economic progress. The original four nationalized commercial banks – now privatized – National Bank of Pakistan and Ministry of Women Development own the bank. Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan has granted an extension to FWBL till Dec-08 for meeting the regulatory minimum capital requirement. The bank operates through a network of 38 branches spread over 23 cities nationwide and has above 500 employees.