The best risk within a country is rated 'AAA' and other credits are rated only relative to this risk, Fitch said.
As the rating categories have been maintained (Highest Credit Quality/ High Credit Quality/ Adequate Credit Quality etc.), these remain consistent with existing practices in Sri Lanka.
At the same time, Fitch is revising the rating identifier for National ratings issued in Sri Lanka to 'lka' from the earlier used suffix of 'sri'.
For instance, Dialog Telekom will now carry AAA (lka) instead of the earlier AAA (sri)
This is to fall in line with Fitch's policy of using internationally recognised identifiers, in this case the ISO country codes, which is 'LKA' for Sri Lanka.
The new ratings definitions and the change to National rating identifiers will not by themselves affect any of the existing ratings nor will they bring about a change in Fitch's rating methodology.
For further details on and definitions of the new and existing Sri Lankan National ratings, please refer to www.fitchratings.lk