Fitch Ratings recalibrates national rating scale

Fitch Ratings has recalibrated its Sri Lanka National Rating scale to reflect changes in the relative creditworthiness of domestic issuers, following the upgrade of the country’s sovereign Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR).

Fitch upgraded Sri Lanka’s sovereign rating to ‘B-’ with a Stable Outlook from ‘CCC+’ on September 22, 2026.

The recalibration could result in rating revisions for some banks, financial institutions and corporate entities that hold Sri Lankan national ratings. Fitch said the revised ratings would be announced in due course.

National scale ratings are designed to help local investors assess and differentiate the relative credit risk of issuers within a particular market. In Sri Lanka, Fitch identifies these ratings with the suffix ‘(lka)’.

However, national scale ratings are not directly comparable with Fitch’s international rating scales or the national rating scales of other countries, as they reflect credit risk relative to other issuers within the same market.

The recalibration is expected to provide an updated framework for comparing the creditworthiness of Sri Lankan issuers following the sovereign rating upgrade.