Moody's on July 6 revised the outlook on Azerbaijan-based OJSC Xalq Bank's long-term local- and foreign-currency deposit ratings to positive from negative, while affirming the ratings at B3.

At the same time, the rating agency affirmed the bank's B2(cr)/Not Prime(cr) long- and short-term counterparty risk assessments, its B2/Not Prime long-term and short-term local- and foreign-currency counterparty risk ratings and the "caa1" baseline and adjusted baseline credit assessments.

The outlook revision indicates that trends are improving in the bank's asset quality and profitability metrics, in addition to the bank's relatively good capital buffer. The rating action is also based on the bank's stable funding and liquidity profiles.