BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Moody’s Ratings (Moody’s) has affirmed the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation’s (ITFC) long-term foreign-currency issuer rating at A1 and its short-term issuer rating at Prime-1, with a stable outlook, Trend reports.
“The rating affirmation reflects ITFC’s strong capital position, supported by its still-low but rising leverage, and its high strength of member support, underpinned by the corporation’s membership in the Islamic Development Bank Group,” Moody’s said. At the same time, the agency noted that these strengths are “balanced against the low credit quality of its trade finance portfolio, which poses asset performance risks, and its more moderate liquidity and funding profile compared to higher-rated peers.”
On the outlook, the agency stated: “The stable outlook reflects our assumption that ITFC’s planned further balance sheet expansion will be partly compensated by the accumulation of retained earnings, moderating the increase in the leverage ratio over the next few years, while prudent risk management practices will continue to mitigate downside risks.”
Moody’s highlighted the rapid growth of ITFC’s operations. “ITFC’s development-related assets rose by 28% in 2024 alone, more than double the average growth rate of around 12% during the previous decade,” the report noted. This expansion was largely financed through increased external market funding, raising ITFC’s leverage ratio to 128% at the end of 2024 from 106% in 2023 and 78% in 2018.
Based on ITFC’s business plan, Moody’s projects leverage to continue rising. “We expect the leverage ratio to reach around 150% in 2025,” the agency forecasted, while emphasizing that leverage is “likely to remain low compared to most other multilateral development banks.”
Moody’s also commented on asset performance. After a period of strong results from 2018 to 2023, ITFC recorded its first significant new non-performing exposure (NPE) in late 2024, raising the NPE ratio to 2.8%. The agency clarified: “This was the first major overdue in excess of 90 days since 2016 and was due to exceptional political circumstances in Mali, rather than relaxed risk management controls.”
As of September 8, 2025, Mali has fully repaid its obligations, and ITFC is taking measures to reduce the likelihood of future arrears, Moody’s added.