...High exposure to vulnerable group of loans. CreditWatch The CreditWatch placement with negative implications reflects a one-in-two possibility that we could downgrade Krung Thai Bank Public Co. Ltd. (KTB) over the next six to 12 months. KTB's asset quality and financial performance could deteriorate, given the rising economic risk. In addition, we consider the bank's asset quality could be more stressed due to some vulnerable group of loans. We could lower the ratings if KTB's asset quality is poised to deteriorate significantly beyond our current expectations, such that the gap between the bank and its peers widens. We could also downgrade KTB if we believe the banking industry will face stronger economic headwinds than we currently forecast. We could affirm the ratings if the economic risks facing Thai banks ease and, in our view, KTB's performance, particularly its asset quality, is likely to remain resilient....
