Moody's on Dec. 7 affirmed Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur -SA's Ba1 long-term local-currency deposit rating and changed the outlook to negative from stable.

The agency said the outlook revision reflects the pressure on the lender's asset quality, with the nonperforming loans ratio increasing to 7.5% as of June from 6.4% a year earlier, and its modest capital cushion.

At the same time, Moody's affirmed the bank's Not Prime short-term foreign- and local-currency bank deposit ratings and the Ba2 long-term foreign-currency deposit rating. The Moroccan lender's "ba3" baseline and adjusted baseline credit assessments, as well as its Ba1(cr)/Not Prime(cr) counterparty risk assessments, were affirmed.

Simultaneously, Moody's assigned the lender Aa2.ma/MA-1 national scale local-currency deposit ratings, following the agency's Oct. 28 publication of new national-scale rating maps for Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco. The agency said the lender's national scale ratings are derived from its global-scale deposit ratings, reflecting the very high probability of government support.

Moody's assigned the lender national scale foreign-currency deposit ratings of Aa3.ma/MA-1.