Qatari banks had strong capital and liquidity buffers, as well as provision coverage, before the Iran conflict, and asset-quality metrics were sound. But the country's banking sector operating environment could weaken under adverse scenarios for the Iran conflict, warned a top Fitch official.
UAE banks’ viability ratings could face risks from asset-quality deterioration, lower business volumes and higher impairments under the adverse scenario, where the impact of the Iran conflict is significantly more severe, with real estate lending seen as the most likely source of stress, according to Fitch Ratings.
GCC banking systems face few immediate credit risks from the regional conflict that has followed attacks on Iran by Israel and the US, says Fitch since the GCC sovereign ratings generally have sufficient headroom to withstand a short regional conflict that does not escalate significantly further.
Most EMEA airlines have sufficient rating headroom to withstand aviation disruption if the Iran conflict lasts fewer than four weeks. However the impact will be greater for local Gulf-based carriers, due to direct network disruption, than for more diversified European airlines, according to Fitch ratings.
