Standard & Poor’s (S&) said on 8 May that it might downgrade the credit rating for Ras al-Khaimah as a result of doubts about the accuracy of population data published by the emirate, one of seven that make up the UAE, the Abu Dhabi daily The National reported this morning.
S&P said there was a one-in-three chance it would downgrade the emirate from its present rating of A/A-1 over the next two years. S&P has downgraded Ras al-Khaimah’s bond rating outlook from stable to negative.
Ras al-Khaimah government statistics show the population was 413,000 in 2010 compared. The previous estimate was 279,000.
“We do not consider a population increase of more than 50 per cent …as realistic,” S&P said.
S&P reaffirmed Ras al-Khaimah’s present rating and said it considered the emirate’s fiscal risks were limited. Ras al-Khaimah issued a $500m sukuk in November 2013. This was its first sukuk since 2009.