OREANDA-NEWS. April 14, 2011. International rating agency Standard & Poor's assigned its initial long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings to Belarusbank on the level:

- foreign currency - "B/B";

- local currency - "B/B";

- the outlook is negative.

Long-term ratings "B" of Belarusbank reflect the moderate differential between the bank's stand-alone credit profile and the local currency sovereign ratings.

Belarusbank's credit ratings assigned by Standard & Poor's reflect dominate position of the Bank on local market, stable deposit-based funding and "very high" likelihood of extraordinary government support for Belarusbank in case of stress financial situation.

The negative outlook on Belarusbank mirrors the outlook on sovereign ratings of the Republic of Belarus. The outlook will be revised to stable if the outlook on the sovereign rating is revised to stable and if the Bank's asset quality and funding demonstrate resilience to the difficult operating environment.