Leading market position in El Salvador; Good profitability and adequate asset quality; and Experienced management team. Sluggish economic growth in El Salvador Standard&Poor's bases its ratings on Banco Agrícola on its "strong" business position and capital and earnings, its "adequate" risk position and liquidity, and "average" funding (as our criteria define it). Despite the 'bbb-' SACP, the sovereign ratings restrain the ratings on the bank mainly due to its exposure to sovereign risk. Our bank criteria use the Bank Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) economic and industry risk scores to determine a bank's anchor, the starting point in assigning an issuer credit rating. Our anchor for a commercial bank operating only in El Salvador is 'bb'. Our economic
