Sovereigns: Supranationals Global Rating Methodology

Executive Summary

This global rating methodology describes the key factors that Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC and its rating affiliates (collectively, KBRA) use when assigning issuer, debt, and other obligation credit ratings to multilateral development banks (MDBs) and other supranational institutions (OSIs), collectively known as supranationals.

Supranationals play an important role in development finance and are distinct from typical private sector financial institutions in that they are not motivated by profit generation but rather public policy goals. Supranationals are generally owned by sovereign governments whose interests in these entities relate to the role they play in economic development, including crisis lending, as well as their long-term objective of enhancing sustainable growth in borrowing member countries.

The methodology was developed with the goal of producing and maintaining credit ratings that perform in accordance with KBRA’s published rating definitions. For…