Fitch affirms Bank of Baroda's IDR at 'BBB-'; VR off rating watch negative

The lender's performance is likely to stay subdued on weak economy, NBFC stress

Global rating agency Fitch today took Bank of Baroda (BOB) off the Rating Watch Negative and said that public sector bank's asset quality has remained broadly stable in the six months since its merger with two other state-owned banks, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank. The three had merged in April 2019.

Fitch affirmed BOB’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB-' and its Viability Rating (VR) at 'bb'. The outlook is stable.

BoB’s core capitalisation has moderately improved following capital support from the state in the fourth quarter of the financial year ended March 2019 (FY19) and more recently in Q2FY20.

However, overall